Why are ships prohibited from changing ballast water in the port area? Detailed answer

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Why are ships prohibited from changing ballast water in the port area? Detailed answer

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Why are ships prohibited from changing ballast water in port waters?

Often, a person unconsciously relocates animals and plants to new areas of the planet for them, which causes both nature and man to suffer - after all, the natural balance is very fragile. The main culprit of unintentional movements in the world of fauna and flora is most often transport: ships, trains, planes, cars.

To improve seaworthiness, a modern vessel has ballast on board, which is water taken directly from the side. Along with this water, pumps pump not only countless microorganisms, but also crabs, mollusks, and small crustaceans. On average, over 400 species of animals, microorganisms and plants are present in ballast water.

In just a year, ships deliver up to 10 billion tons of such water to international ports. If it is dumped where the salinity, temperature, nutrient medium suit the newly arrived guests, they begin to fight with the local inhabitants for the right to live here.

In San Francisco Bay, for example, 99 percent of the biomass is made up of organisms that did not previously live there. America, in turn, endowed the Old World with the inhabitants of its coastal waters. One of these guests, who arrived in Europe with the ballast water of some ship, was the comb jelly - an invertebrate animal that feeds on plankton, fish fry and their caviar. About 20 years ago, he got into the Black Sea, found favorable conditions for himself there and multiplied so much that he almost undermined the local fisheries.

It is in connection with such cases that an agreement was concluded between a number of countries obliging ships to change ballast water before entering the port of destination, on the high seas.

Author: Kondrashov A.P.

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