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Ballast water discharges are believed to be the leading source of invasive species in U.S. marine waters, thus posing public health and environmental risks, as well as significant economic cost to industries such as water and power utilities, commercial and recreational fisheries, agriculture, and tourism. [11]
Ballast water taken up at sea and released in port is a major source of unwanted exotic marine life. The invasive freshwater zebra mussels, native to the Black, Caspian, and Azov seas, were probably transported to the Great Lakes via ballast water from a transoceanic vessel. [ 21 ]
This water, called ballast water, which contains aquatic organisms typical of the port of arrival, is stored in ballast tanks and is ultimately discharged at the port of departure when the ship is ready to be re-loaded. During this process, aquatic organisms capable of surviving in ballast water are released into new environments and can ...
Cross section of a vessel with a single ballast tank at the bottom. A ballast tank is a compartment within a boat, ship or other floating structure that holds water, which is used as ballast to provide hydrostatic stability for a vessel, to reduce or control buoyancy, as in a submarine, to correct trim or list, to provide a more even load distribution along the hull to reduce structural ...
The advantage of water ballast is that the tanks can be emptied, reducing draft or the weight of the boat (e.g. for transport on ground) and water added back in (in small boats, simply by opening up the valves and letting the water flow in) after the boat is launched or cargo unloaded.
Sea water, in theory, could be used to help a fire. But, its salty components can do more harm than good, which is why firefighters typically avoid using it unless absolutely necessary.
Approximately 10 billion tons of ballast water is transported each year, accounting for 90% of our world trade. [2] Typically, ballast water discharge contains a variety of biological materials including non-native, invasive, and exotic species that can cause extensive ecological and economic damage to aquatic ecosystems.
Before the final ruling in ballast water standards in 2012, many vessels arriving from outside the EEZ were able to be exempted from safety regulations by exchanging ballast water mid-ocean. Vessels also had to report number of ballast water tanks, each tank's volume, and origin of the ballast water to be discharged.