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© by PSP Volume 23 – No 11a. 2014
Fresenius Environmental Bulletin
ADAPTATION OF PORT WASTE RECEPTION FACILITIES
TO BALLAST WATER TREATMENT SYSTEM:
TURKISH PORT PERSPECTIVE
Tanzer Satır1,* and Neslihan Do an-Sa lamtimur2
1
Department of Maritime Transportation and Management Engineering,
Maritime Faculty, Istanbul Technical University (ITU), 34940 Tuzla-Istanbul, Turkey
2
Department of Environmental Engineering, Engineering Faculty, Nigde University, 51245, Nigde, Turkey
Presented at the 4th International Conference on Environmental Management,
Engineering, Planning and Economics (CEMEPE), June 24 to 28, 2013, Mykonos, Greece
ABSTRACT
1. INTRODUCTION
The introduction of invasive marine species into a
new environment by ballast water attached to ship hulls
has been identified as one of the four greatest threats to
the world’s oceans. Ballast water is water carried by ships
to ensure stability, trim, and structural integrity. Shipping
transports over 80% of the world’s commodities, and each
year transfers approximately 3 to 5 billion tons of ballast
water internationally, which is, absolutely essential to the
safe and efficient operation of modern shipping, providing balance and stability to unladen ships. However, it
may also pose a serious ecological threat to the marine
environment. The transferred species including bacteria,
microbes, small invertebrates, eggs, cysts and larvae of
various species may survive to establish a reproductive
population in the host environment, becoming invasive,
out-competing native species, and multiplying into pest
proportions.
Ballast water treatment is a technology for the treatment of ship ballast water from aquatic invasive species.
Port waste reception facility should be modified to include ship ballast water treatment during this transitional
phase until 2017. It provides onshore facilities in ports or
terminals to transfer ballast water for cleaning or storage.
This paper describes ballast water management, in general, and gives perspectives for the Turkish ports, and
briefly suggests that the waste reception facilities must be
modified for ballast water treatment.
KEYWORDS: Port waste reception facility, ballast water, aquatic
invasive species, ship-generated waste
Ballast is any material used to add weight to balance
an object, such as vessel. It is the additional weight necessary to bring the vessel to a suitable draft and trim, reduce
stresses, and improve stability 1 . Ships are specifically
designed and built to move safely through the water while
carrying cargo. When a ship is travelling either without
cargo, or only partially laden, it must take additional weight
on board to enable it to operate effectively and safely by
keeping the ship deep enough in the water to ensure efficient propeller and rudder operation. In the past, many
solid materials were used for ballast, including sand, soil,
and stones. In the mid 19th century, water was used as
ballast, and since the 1950’s, it has completely replaced
solid ballast in ships used to carry heavy loads. Ballast
water systems are now an integral part of ship design, and
they contribute to stability and balance as well as structural integrity of the hull. Ballast water is pumped into
specially designed tanks distributed throughout the hull as
ships are offloaded, and pumped out again on arrival to a
port where cargo is to be loaded (Fig. 1) 1, 2 .
It is estimated that 10 billion tons of ballast water is
transferred globally each year, and that 7,000 invasive species are carried around in ballast water every day 2 . There
are thousands of marine species that may be carried in
ship ballast water; basically anything that is small enough
to pass through a ship’s ballast water intake ports and
pumps. These include bacteria and other microbes, small
invertebrates, and the eggs, and cysts and larvae of various species. The problem is compounded by the fact that
all marine species virtually have life cycles that include a
planktonic stage or stages.
2. AQUATIC INVASIVE SPECIES
* Corresponding author
Marine plants, animals, and microbes are carried
around the world attached to the hulls of ships and in ship
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Fresenius Environmental Bulletin
FIGURE 1 - Ballast Water Cycle between ports
ballast water. When discharged into new environments,
they may become invaders and seriously disrupt the native ecology and economy. They displace native aquatic
life, alter habitat, ecosystem and food web, and cause severe fouling problems on infrastructure and vessels. Introduced pathogens may cause diseases and death in humans.
International Maritime Organization (IMO) Globallast has
identified ten of the dangerous species. These are cholera
(Vibrio cholerae, some cholera epidemics appear to be
directly associated with ballast water), cladoceran water
flea (Cercopagis pengoi), mitten crab (Eiocheir sinensis),
toxic algae (red, brown, and green tides, may form harmful algal blooms depending on the species), round goby
(Neogobius melanostomus), North American comb jelly
(Mnemiopsis leidyi), North Pacific seastar (Asterias amurensis), zebra mussel (Dreissena polymorpha, fouls all available
hard surfaces in mass numbers), Asian kelp (Undaria pinnatifida), and European green crab (Carcinus maenas) 1 .
The Straits of Istanbul and Çanakkale are among the
busiest seaways around the globe. Approx. 50.000 ships
passed these straits and 22.300 ships visited Turkish ports
during 2011. The majority of the ballast water (BW) volume discharged to Centroid Moment Tensor (CMT) area
was from the Mediterranean Sea (69%), which was followed by North East Atlantic (11%), North West Atlantic
(10%), and Indo-Pacific Ocean (6%). The highest BW
discharge volume belongs to the Western Mediterranean
Sea with ~14.061.894 tones 3 .
3. INTERNATIONAL APPROACHES FOR
THE BALLAST WATER MANAGEMENT
The International Convention for the Control and Management of Ships’ Ballast Water and Sediments (BWM) is a
new international convention to prevent the potentially devastating effects of the spread of harmful aquatic organisms
carried by ship ballast water, and it has been adopted by the
IMO, the United Nations agency responsible for the safety
and security of shipping and the prevention of marine
pollution from ships. The instrument was adopted at an
international conference held from February 9-13, 2004 at
IMO's London headquarter. The Convention will require
all ships to implement a Ballast Water and Sediments
Management Plan. All ships will have to carry a Ballast
Water Record Book and will be required to carry out
ballast water management procedures to a given standard,
following a phase-in period. A number of guidelines has
been developed to facilitate the implementation of the
Convention. The Convention is divided into Articles; and
an Annex, which includes technical standards and requirements in the Regulations for the control and management
of ships' ballast water and sediments 4 . The Convention
will enter into force 12 months after ratification by 30 countries, representing 35 % of world merchant shipping tonnage.
As of 30 September 2013, there were 38 contracting
states, and 30.38% of world merchant shipping tonnage
ratified the convention 4 .
Several strategies have been developed for reducing
the risk of spreading Invasive Alien Species (IAS)
through ballast water, such as:
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Fresenius Environmental Bulletin
a) Minimizing uptake of organisms into ballast water
tanks. Avoiding ballast water uptake in shallow and turbid
areas, e.g., where propellers can stir up sediment, and
avoiding uptake at night when many organisms migrate
vertically to feed, thereby reducing the number of organisms that enter ballast water tanks;
which have ships generating oily bilge water and other
residues that cannot be discharged into the sea,
which are loading crude oil,
loading and discharging bulk cargo in respect to oil
residue from combination carriers,
in which 1000 tons/day oil other than crude oil is
loaded,
having ship repair yards and providing tank-cleaning
facility 6 .
b) Removing ballast sediment. Routine cleaning of
ballast water tanks and removal of sediment in mid-ocean
or at specific facilities provided in ports reducing the
number of organisms that are transported;
c) Avoiding unnecessary discharge of ballast water.
Where cargo handling demands uptake and discharge of
ballast water within a port, water taken up in another area
should not be discharged, if avoidable;
d) Ballast water exchange. Ballast water can be exchanged between ports, mid-ocean, and in deep water, in
order to reduce the risk of organisms carried in the water
finding a suitable environment on discharge;
e) Treatment of ballast water. Several methodologies
that seek to remove or render harmless organisms in ballast water while in tanks and on ships are in development
or being piloted. This includes mechanical treatment (e.g.,
filter or cyclonic separation), physical treatment (e.g.,
ultraviolet, ultrasound, or heat treatment), chemical treatment (e.g., the use of disinfectants or biocides), biological
treatment, or a combination of these;
f) Discharge to reception facilities. Discharge of ballast water to reception facilities prevents organisms transported in ballast water from releasing into the wild 2 .
3.1 Reception Facilities
The establishment of adequate waste reception facilities (WRFs) is a necessary step to reduce and eliminate
ship-generated pollution 5 . WRFs should be designed
by taking into account the ship types that may be anticipated to use them. Consideration should be given to the
requirements for ballast tank cleaning that may take place
and of repair facilities in the area(s) the reception facility
serves. The capabilities and any capacity limitations of
reception process (facilities and equipment’s) should be
made available to ships wishing to use the facility. The
details made available to ships should include but not be
limited to: 1) maximum capacity (volume or weight) of
sediment, 2) maximum volume or weight that can be
handled at anyone time, 3) packaging and labeling requirements, 4) hours of operation, 5) ports, berths, areas
where access to the facility is available, 6) ship-to-shore
transfer details, 7) if ship or shore crew are required for
the transfer, 8) contact details for the facility, 9) how to
request use of the facility including any notice period and
what information is required from the ship, 10) all applicable fees, and 11) other relevant information 6 .
A port WRF needs to be introduced to seaport and
terminals entertaining ships with sludge tank, in addition
to all ports
3.2 Ballast Water Reception Facility
A ballast water reception facility (BWRF) should be
capable of receiving ballast water from ships so as not to
create a risk to the environment, human health, property
and resources arising from the release to the environment
of harmful aquatic organisms and pathogens. A facility
should provide pipelines, manifolds, reducers, equipment and other resources to enable, as far as practicable, all ships wishing to discharge ballast water in a port
to use the facility 6 .
3.3 Sediment Reception Facility
The BWM, under Article 5, sediment reception facilities (SRFs) undertake to ensure that ports and terminals
where the reception facilities have adequate units for
cleaning or repairing of ballast tanks to receive the sediments 6 .
3.4 Reception Facilities at the Turkish Ports
Turkey has 295 port facilities including tanker terminal, bulk terminal, fishing and yacht port. The Turkish
National Railway System (TCDD) is managing 7 ports of
them, 17 ports are being managed by the Turkish Maritime Lines (TDI), 2 tanker terminals are managed by the
Turkish Petroleum Refineries Corporation (TUPRAS), and
20 ports are being managed by other local administrations. And also 50 small ports are being managed by local
municipalities, 53 ports are being managed by the private
sectors, 13 yacht harbors are being managed by the Ministry of Tourism, and 128 fishing harbours are being managed by the local co-operatives and municipalities 7, 8 .
In Turkey, a total of 177 ports have port WRFs. Mobile waste reception ships and vessels are working for
small ports. WRFs in Turkey are facilities where shipgenerated wastes of Annex I (oil), Annex IV (sewage),
and Annex V (garbage) of MARPOL (73/78) are stored,
treated, and disposed in. Capacity of these facilities and
treatment methods may vary because of regionaleconomic reasons. WRFs started to be established a few
years ago 5 . At present, they do not receive and treat
ballast water and sediment from ships. These additional
treatment systems are expected to demand one more year.
Even though all port WRFs must be ready to receive
ballast water and sediment from ships in 2017, when all
ships must have installed ballast water treatment systems
(BWTSs) at 2017.
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© by PSP Volume 23 – No 11a. 2014
Fresenius Environmental Bulletin
4. OUTLOOK
IMO adapted the BWM at 2004 but it is not in force
yet. All new and existing ships will install BWTSs until
2017. Some shipping companies installed the BWTSs to
their ships. 60 BWTSs were in the maritime sector at
2010 but new ones are expected to come every year.
BWTSs can effectively accomplish sterilization for the
ballast water flowing into the ballast tank of ships and,
thereby, prevent all kinds of pollution to seawater related
with ballast water discharge by removing aquatic invasive
species from ballast water. BWTS, a system for treatment
of ballast water used in ships, is very expensive; therefore,
ballast and sediment reception facilities are alternative
solutions for ships` owners. If most of the Turkish ports
will be effective to use ballast water reception at their
WRFs, it will be the main and most practical solution for
ballast water treatment until 2017.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Authors thankfully acknowledge guest editor and referees for comments, Prof. Dr. Temel O uz and Veysel
Yah i for improving the text.
The authors have declared no conflict of interest.
REFERENCES
1
GloBallast,
The
Problem,
Available
from:
http://globallast.imo.org/index.asp?page=problem.htm&men
u=true.
2
Tamelander, J., Riddering, L., Haag, F., Matheickal, J.
(2010), Guidelines for Development of National Ballast Water Management Strategies, London: GloBallast Monographs
No. 18.
3
Olgun, A., Dönerta , A.S., Aydöner, C., Gümü lüo lu, Y.
(2011), Assessing of the Ballast Water Risk in Ceyhan Marine Terminal, Proceedings of the Global R&D Forum on
Compliance Monitoring and Enforcement the Next R&D
Challenge and Opportunity, October 26-28, Istanbul, Turkey,
pp. 167-174.
4
International Maritime Organization (IMO), [Internet],
Available from: www.imo.org.
5
Suba ı, E., Do an-Sa lamtimur, N. (2013), Performance
Evaluation of the Marta Port Waste Reception Facility
Treatment Plant (Tekirda , Turkey), Desalination and Water
Treatment, 51, 3040-3046.
6
IMO (2013), Guidelines for Ballast Water Reception Facilities (G5), Annex B-4, IMO, London.
7
Satir, T., Alkan, G.B., Can, S., Bak, O.A. (2007) Port Reception Facilities: Using Multi Criteria Decision Making, ICMRT’07, Italy, pp. 25-28.
Satir T., Demir H., Alkan B. G., Ucan O. N., Bayat C.
(2008), Ship Waste Forecasting at the Botas LNG Port Using
Artificial Neural Networks, Fresenius Environmental Bulletin, 17, 2064-2070.
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Received: January 27, 2014
Revised: March 19, 2014
Accepted: April 02, 2014
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
Tanzer Satır
Department of Maritime Transportation and Management Engineering
Maritime Faculty
Istanbul Technical University (ITU)
34940 Tuzla-Istanbul
TURKEY
Phone: +90 216 446 8490
Fax: +90 216 4468491
E-mail: tsatir@itu.edu.tr
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