Ballast Water Discharge Assessment Model

Vessels carrying passengers and cargoes all around the world facilitate also the transfer of harmful and pathogen organisms, especially via ballast water. Discharge of these in a new environment may result in a change of biodiversity, alteration of ecosystems, negative impacts on human health and economic loss, in some cases with irreversible consequences. One of the critical issues is a need to understand and evaluate the dimension and process of species introductions. In the efforts to prevent the transfer of invasive aquatic species, risk assessment plays a crucial role. This actually enables management process to identify appropriate management measures. The quantity of ballast water discharged is one of the basic elements of such evaluation. During the national research projects ¿Harmful Introductions and Ballast Water Management in the Slovenian Sea¿ and ¿Decision Model and Control of Ballast Water Management in the Slovenian Sea¿, conducted by the Faculty of Maritime Studies and Transport (University of Ljubljana) from July 2004 were conducted between July 2001 and June 2007, a new Ballast Water Discharge Assessment Model (BWDAM) was developed. The BWDAM is based on foreseen cargo operation, type of cargo, and vessel type and dimensions. The model was tested on vessel traffic data for the Port of Koper, and various vessels were boarded. Results show high confidence for an overall estimation of ballast water discharges in a port. This paper presents the BWDAM and application results for the Port of KoperJRC.G.4-Maritime affair