Ballast Water Management Convention…Here It Comes

As of 2017, all ballast water which is to be released into the environment will have to be treated first. This is certainly a landmark step for the health of our planet but possibly also for the health of the depressed shipping market.

Vessels use ballast water for a wide range of operational matters, including stability and draft. Issues have arisen over the years because the water used is not treated and contains aquatic species, pathogens and organisms. When a vessel takes in ballast water from one part of the world, it then goes on to discharge it somewhere else, thereby transferring the ballast water containing potentially invasive non-native species into a foreign eco-system, causing irreversible damage to the environment.