Tom Morris
– The Development of the International Convention for the control and management of ships' ballast water and sediment
Email – morrist@tc.gc.ca Tom Morris is the
Co-chairman of the Canadian national working group for ballast water manament. Morris discussed the status of the International Maritime Organization's (IMO) Convention to regulate ballast water management.
The IMO has been debating this convention for close to a decade and Morris believes it may be coming to fulfillment by early 2004.According to Morris some key issues still under debate at IMO include:
- How and when the Convention will enter into force. – Three years after approval or a set date such as Jan. 1, 2010.
- Regulations for BWM plan.
- Regulation for BWM recording.
- A ballast water performance standard based on quantity, size and number of viable cells. 25 viable zooplankton/ML, 200 viable phytoplankton/ML are some of the numbers being debated.
- An efficiency standard of 95% has been proposed but IMO must determine if the standard will be for a set period of time or for the life of the vessel.
- Additional measures for management of the sediment in ballast water tanks are also being discussed.
Most importantly, Morris points out that IMO agrees that coastal governments may ask for additional requirements beyond those suggested in the convention. However, IMO has said it is unacceptable for
such measures to require ship owners to conduct extra surveys purely for the purpose of ballast water legislation.  Anjuna Langevin – Ballast Water Management Practices of Foreign Flag Vessels.
Email – alangevin@shipfed.ca
The Director of Navigation and Environment for the Shipping Federation of Canada (CSF), Langevin discussed how ships are coping with ballast water management (BWM) and the desire of ship owners to
keep ballast water movement to a minimum. Langevin reminded everyone that ship owners do NOT desire ballast or sediment at the bottom of ballast water tanks. Ballast is a necessary safety practice but
is very costly to the owners.The CSF has promoted a code of BWM practices for all their members to comply with. The code tells owners to exchange ballast water at sea
whenever practical, whether required or not. This will help to keep tank sediments to a minimum. The code also advises owners to keep ballast tanks clean of sediment, even if they have to shovel out the
excess. Langevin was concerned about ballast water exchange practices for coastal vessels, i.e. those that
cannot deviate to 200 nautical miles offshore. She said coastal authorities need to determine if short voyages present legitimate risks and if so, they need to set-up ballast water exchange zones.
Regarding enforcement, Langevin stressed the need for a quick and 100% reliable tool to prove that a ship has complied with ballast water regulations. The enforcement of future ballast water regulations
requires a compliance verification tool so that owners who are not complying do not undercut those who are following regulations. Phil Jenkins
– Ballast Management and the Control of Sediment Accumulation in Water Ballast Tanks
P. Jenkins and Associates - Email: seafarer1@sprint.ca Jenkins is a specialist on ship's operations with P. Jenkins and Associates. His work has been in
helping ships find ways to control and minimize sediment in ballast water tanks.He outline five ways to limit sediment accumulation:
- Try to limit the amount of ballast intakes by limiting the number of tanks that a ship takes ballast water. If possible, re-use the same tanks in similar instances.
- Exchange bad ballast water with clean ballast water as soon as possible. The key is to get the poorer water out before sediment accumulates, even if that means exchanging before 200 nautical miles offshore.
- Flush the tanks often using clean deep water.
- Manually hose the tanks wherever possible and manually shovel if residuals remain.
- Regular tank inspection.
Jenkins feels the bulk of sediment residuals are due to poor design of the flow-through systems on
ballast tanks. The less sediment left on a ship means more cargo weight that can be carried and hence more income to the owner. Jack Brabban – The Natural Ballast Water Exchange Method
Email – jack.brabban@teekay.com
Teekay Shipping is a large shipping firm working primarily with big tankers over 100,000 DWT. Brabban described a ships modification that TeeKay designed in order to facilitate ballast water exchange at sea.
TeeKay's system uses the forward motion of the vessel to power the exchange process. By adding piping from the forward bow to the forward ballast tank and two tank outlets in the hull, they were
able to create a pressure differential. This pressure differential pulls fresh seawater into the tanks while pushing out the old seawater. A ship can therefore exchange ballast while moving and without
fully utilizing the ballast pumps. The simplicity of the system appealed to many experts in Windsor. Brabban said the installation costs
were expected at about US$ 100,000 to $150,000 for a 100,000 DWT tanker. Benefits to the process were a minimization of fuel consumption and reduction of the workload to the ship staff. He expects
the design is applicable to any type or size of vessel as long as the form of the hull will cause a pressure differential. TeeKay expects to install a fully functional model in the near future. |
