MEPC at its fifty third session adopted guidelines for ballast water management equivalence, guidelines for ballast water exchange, guidelines for ballast water management systems, guidelines for ballast water management and the development of ballast water management plans, and the procedure for approval of ballast water management systems that make use of active substances (see IMO document MEPC 53 WP.16).

Procedures for dealing with ballast water include exchange of ballast at sea and discharge at reception facilities.

Harmful aquatic organisms in ballast water

(g) Harmful aquatic organisms in ballast water

So quite often you load water for ballast.

Throwing overboard, as ballast, to change our direction.

Because when tankers carry oil they have to have ballast at some point, so when they're empty, they have the ballast water in there.

Well, in a balloon it's easy, we have ballast.

And when we drop the ballast overboard we climb.

Control of harmful organisms and pathogens in ballast water

All right. Soon as I take on some ballast.

It also established a ballast water review group to determine whether appropriate technologies are available to achieve the ballast water performance standard required under regulation D 2.

They ended up swimming through ballast water that had oil in it.

When they come back, they actually dump this oily ballast water into the ocean.

We tried in the water without any skin or ballast just to see how it works.

No, the pioneer is the one who allows himself to throw overboard a lot of ballast.

356. It is estimated that about 10 billion tonnes of ballast water is transferred each year.

Tonnes of the Class A drug were crammed in the ship's ballast tank when it was raided

Discharged ballast water is said to be the most prominent medium for transferring new or alien species.

As ships travel faster and faster, the survival rates of species carried in ballast tanks has increased.

The question I leave you with now is which is the ballast you would like to throw overboard?

It's really a question of the system, how the ship was loaded, the ballast and many other things.

52. Further calls upon States to accelerate the development of measures to address the problem of invasive alien species in ballast water, and urges the International Maritime Organization to finalize the International Convention on the Control and Management of Ships' Ballast Water and Sediments

That's when you throw out all the ballast, all the certainties, in order to adapt to the new situation.

The introduction of non native species or diseases, including from ballast water and hull fouling, is a global concern.

IMO adopted the new Guidelines for Ships Operating in Arctic Ice Covered Water in 2002, and a new convention to prevent the potentially devastating effects of alien invasive species in ballast water, the International Convention for the Control and Management of Ships' Ballast Water and Sediments, in February 2004.

358. Recommendations in the Guidelines for dealing with the problem, including ways to reduce the chances of taking harmful organisms on board, include informing local agents and or ships of areas and situations where uptake of ballast water should be minimized, such as areas with known populations of harmful pathogens advising ships to avoid loading ballast water in very shallow water or in areas where propellers may stir up sediment and avoiding the unnecessary discharge of ballast.

362. Inadequate reception facilities for dirty ballast water, waste oil and garbage present a serious worldwide problem for the shipping industry.

Alien species once established are very difficult, if not impossible to eradicate. 244. IMO has been addressing the problem of the introduction of unwanted aquatic organisms and pathogens through the discharge of ships apos ballast water (see paras. 303 306). Discharge of ballast water is said to be the most prominent media for transferring new or alien species.

Appendix 2 of the Guidelines provides guidance on the safety aspects of ballast water exchange at sea (see also A 52 487, paras. 324 325).

It's clear that it's not easy to know which ballast to drop and which altitude to take. Sometime we need friends, family members or a psychiatrist.

357. The Guidelines for the Control and Management of Ships Ballast Water to Minimize the Transfer of Harmful Aquatic Organisms and Pathogens, which were adopted by the IMO Assembly at its twentieth session by resolution A.868(20), are aimed at minimizing the introduction of harmful aquatic organisms and pathogens from ships ballast water and associated sediments while protecting the safety of ships.

60. Welcomes the convening by the International Maritime Organization of a diplomatic conference to adopt an international convention for the control and management of ships' ballast waters and sediments

After a lethal 1995 heat wave turned refrigerator trucks from the popular Taste of Chicago festival into makeshift morgues, Chicago became a recognized leader, tamping down on the urban heat island impact through opening cooling centers, outreach to vulnerable neighborhoods, planting trees, creating cool white or vegetated green roofs.

The resolution notes the objectives of the Convention on Biological Diversity and that the transfer and introduction of alien aquatic species with ballast water threatens the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity.

In order to prevent, minimize and ultimately eliminate the risks arising from the transfer of harmful aquatic organisms and pathogens by ships, IMO adopted the International Convention for the Control and Management of Ships' Ballast Water and Sediments in 2004.

57. Also welcomes the adoption by the International Maritime Organization of the International Convention for the Control and Management of Ships' Ballast Water and Sediments,International Maritime Organization, document BWM CONF 36, annex. and calls upon States to become parties to that Convention

314. Developments in IMO in addressing the problem of the introduction of unwanted aquatic organisms and pathogens through the discharge of ships ballast water are presented in the section of the present report dealing with pollution from vessels (see paras. 356 359).

359. In the resolution MEPC is requested to work towards the completion of legally binding provisions on ballast water management, in the form of a new annex to MARPOL 73 78, which could be adopted by the Conference of Parties to MARPOL in 2000.

The other view often dubbed the ballast theory claims that the eurozone would actually be strengthened by Greece's withdrawal. The monetary union would be rid of a recurring problem, and a eurozone decision to allow or invite Greece to leave would bolster the credibility of its rules.

This impact comprises excess currency exchange costs arising from the necessity of carrying out transactions performed through intermediary banks, delays in the unloading of the ships owing to tardy collection of payments and freight charges since the vessels have to return to the United States in ballast.

The Committee approved a programme for the development of guidelines for uniform implementation of the Convention and established a technical group within the Joint Group of Experts on the Scientific Aspects of Marine Environmental Protection to review proposals for approval of ballast water management systems that use active substances.

It will benefit from the GEF UNDP IMO Globallast Partnership through a project development facility, intended to assist developing countries in enacting, through effective partnerships, the necessary national level policy, legal and institutional reforms, and building capacity to address the risk arising from the transfer of invasive aquatic species and pathogens in ships' ballast water and sediments.

41. Urges States to continue to work, through the International Maritime Organization, on issues relating to the protection of the marine environment from degradation resulting from ship based activities, including the transfer of harmful aquatic organisms and pathogens through ships' ballast water, and notes the adoption of the International Convention on the Control of Harmful Anti fouling Systems on Ships International Maritime Organization, document AFS CONF.26.

According to IAEA, the next step in a nuclear desalination demonstration programme should be for one or more member States to proceed with preparatory actions for demonstration projects, including site selection and qualification, identification of user requirements, project specifications and the development of infrastructures as may be required for project implementation. 262. Another approach under investigation involves transporting fresh water to arid countries as ballast in tankers.