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Elements of Ballast Water

Ballast water is water that a ship takes in before a voyage. Once the ship arrives at its destination, it may or may not release this water into the new bay. This ballast water helps keep the ship stabilized and is required for commercial shipping.

  1. Effects on Humans

    • Ballast water is something that can cause harm to humans and other living organisms. When ballast water is exposed to humans, it can cause severe illness and result in death. Ballast water contains toxic organisms, pathogens and diseases and there are hundreds of examples of situations where a person's health was compromised and where ecological and economical impact was extremely severe.

    Damages to Coastal Industry

    • The economical impact of ballast water is severe enough to affect the coastal industry, fisheries and other commercial activities. These industries are experiencing loss and damages of up to $138 billion per year in the United States solely. Ballast water is significantly damaging to the economics of the business that thrive on underwater organisms.

    Damages to Ecology

    • Ballast water contributes negatively to the ecological aspect of the industry by disrupting the native biodiversity and ecological processes of nature. According to the Global Ballast Water Management Programme, an introduced marine species invades a new environment somewhere in the world every nine weeks. Ballast water contains unwanted stowaways, which include bacteria, small invertebrates and the spores, planktonic species, and eggs and larvae of other larger species.

    North Pacific Sea Stars

    • Ballast water contaminants contain North Pacific Sea Stars and contribute to southern Australia's threat of commercial stocks of shellfish species like scallops and oysters. The Sea Star is an excellent breeder and has produced nearly 30 million more of its own kind, making ballast water all the more contaminated in Tasmania.

    The European Zebra Mussel

    • The European Zebra Mussel is another contaminant of ballast water that is causing problems for the United States. It was introduced to the North American Great Lakes and has since spread to more than 40% of U.S. waterways. This single species of ballast water contaminants has cost the U.S. more than $5 billion to control it since 1989. Once ballast water presents these types of contaminants into the water ways, it is virtually impossible to control and once the damage is done, the process is usually irreversible.

    Toxic Dinoflagelattes

    • Toxic dinoflagelattes are another contaminant of ballast water that has spread to other locations around the world via ballast. Dinoflagelattes are micro algae that can bloom to form red tides that can be absorbed into filter-feeding shellfish and release toxins. If it does reach shellfish and contaminates, the human who eats the shellfish can experience paralysis, or even death.

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