Invasive Aquatic Species in ship’s ballast water is one of the biggest problems faced by the shipping industry. Posing a great threat to the marine ecosystem, these aquatic species has led to an increase in bio-invasion at an alarming rate. Under IMO’s “International Convention for the Control and Management of Ship’s Ballast Water and Sediments”, implementation of ballast water management plan and ballast water treatment system on board ships has thus become important.

In order to ensure their ships, comply with the rules and regulations set by IMO regarding Ballast Water Management, several shipping operators have started implementing ballast water treatment systems on their ships.

A variety of technologies are available in the market for treating ballast water on ships. However, constraints such as availability of space, cost of implementation, and level of environmental friendliness play an important role in usage of a particular type of ballast water treatment system.

A number of factors are taken into account for choosing a ballast water treatment system for a ship.

Some of the main factors taken into consideration are –

• Effectiveness on ballast water organisms
• Environment-friendliness
• Safety of the crew
• Cost effectiveness
• Ease of installation and operation
• Space availability on board