Lloyd Register (LR) is hosting a no-cost seminar on ballast water treatment at its Florida, Plantation training center Sept. 3, 2009, from 9:00 to 11:00.
According to LR, ballast water contains a variety of organisms including bacteria and viruses, and adult and larval stages of many marine and coastal plants and animals. While the vast majority of such organisms will not survive to the point when the ballast is discharged, some may survive and thrive in their new environment. These ‘non-native species’, if they become established, can have a serious ecological, economic and public health impact on the receiving environment.
The International Maritime Organization (IMO) has developed international legislation, the International Convention for the Control and Management of Ships’ Ballast Water and Sediments, to regulate discharges of ballast water and reduce the risk of introducing non-native species from ships’ ballast water.
The requirement for ballast water treatment has arisen from the requirements of regulation D-2 of the Convention. In response to this, a number of technologies have been developed and commercialised by different vendors. Many have their basis in land-based applications for municipal and industrial water and effluent treatment, and have been adapted to meet the requirements of the Ballast Water Management Convention and shipboard operation. These systems must be tested and approved in accordance with the relevant IMO Guidelines.
This seminar will provide updated information on the solutions that industry is providing, and will indicate the status of systems in relation to the approval process. An outline description of water treatment processes and an appraisal of commercially available and developing technologies for ballast water treatment will also be discussed.
