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Basic Project INFO

  • FOCAL AREA:
    International Waters
  • PROJECT TITLE:
    GloBallast
  • PROJECT NUMBER:
      GLO/99/G31
  • COUNTRY:
      Participating Countries: Brazil, China, India, Iran, South Africa, Ukraine
  • PROJECT STATUS:
      GEF Grant: US$ 7.392m
      Co-financing: US$ 5.937m (actual at end of project)
      Project Cost: US$ 13.329m

  • PROJECT DOWNLOAD (WORD)

GloBallast (Removal of Barriers to the Effective Implementation of Ballast Water Control and Management Measures in Developing Countries)

Facts and figures

Transfer of alien organisms through ship ballast water is one of the four greatest threats to the world's oceans. (The others are land-based pollution, overexploitation of marine living resources and physical destruction/alteration of marine habitats.) Between 3 and 10 billion tones of ballast water - carrying more than 7,000 different species at any given time - are shipped around the world every year. The cost of controlling invasive species in the USA alone is around $138 billion a year. However shipping carries more than 80% of the world's commodities and is essential to the global economy.

Once established it is almost impossible to control an invasive marine species. Invasive species can threaten marine-based economies, especially shellfish harvesting and can be a risk to human health. The introduction of the European Zebra mussel into the Great Lakes, has spread to infest more than 40% of US waterways and is estimated to have coasted between $0.75-1.0 billion in clean up activities alone, between 1989-2000. A North Pacific sea star introduced to southern Australia threatened the oyster and shellfish industries. Mnemiopsis leidyi , a jellyfish probably imported from east coast USA, quickly overran the Black Sea ecosystem once it had been introduced and contributed to the 1990s collapse of the local fishing industry. This species has now entered the Caspian Sea and is threatening the fisheries and the economy of Caspian States. Toxic algae, introduced into several locations through ballast water, can cause paralysis or death in humans who eat contaminated shellfish. There are fears that cholera could be spread in ballast water.

Project description

GloBallast aims to assist developing countries to prevent, minimize and ultimately eliminate the transfer of harmful aquatic organisms and pathogens through the control and management of ships' ballast water and sediments. Ecosystems in Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe and South America are particularly at risk as globalisation opens up new markets, ports and shipping routes.

The project, conducted in partnership with the IMO, established demonstration sites in six pilot countries representing six developing regions, where the main activities were:

1) Establishing national lead agencies and information clearing house mechanisms, assistance with laws and regulations, increasing awareness and expertise, establishing best practices and stimulating innovative ballast water management solutions - including physical, mechanical and chemical treatments to kill, remove or inactivate organisms as well as development of tools for compliance monitoring and enforcement.

2) Sampling ballast water and making risk assessments, conducting port baseline surveys, education and awareness programmes, including training port and shipping personnel and developing regional strategic action plans for ballast water management.

Extensive IMO Guidelines on water ballast were published in November 1997, building on Agenda 21 adopted at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (Rio de Janeiro 1992). Commitment to Agenda 21 was reaffirmed at the World Summit on Sustainable Development (Johannesburg 2002). The International Convention for the Control and Management of Ships' Ballast Water and Sediments was adopted by IMO member countries in February 2004.

IMO will continue to provide technical assistance to less industrialised countries to implement the new International Convention after the Globallast project ends, through the continuation of an in-house ballast water management unit at its headquarters in London.

The global, multi-disciplinary nature of the GloBallast project, involving a large variety of institutional systems and countries at different stages of development, has proved a major challenge.   GloBallast has sought to harmonise different approaches through standardized templates and models, facilitating maximum communications with and between countries, and including capacity building and institutional strengthening elements in all Programme activities.

SELECTED PROJECT ACTIVITIES/RESULTS

  • International Convention for the Control and Management of Ships’ Ballast Water and Sediments, adopted by IMO member countries in February 2004. (See legal)
  • Letters of support for the new GloBallast programme have already been received from 46 countries.
  • Best practices and standard methods have been established for technical activities. Countries which had little or no infrastructure to address ballast water issues have now implemented policy reforms and regulatory reviews.
  • The project established the first global clearing house for information on ballast water and invasive aquatic species.
  • Establishment of demonstration sites, with national lead agencies and contacts for ballast water issues. Six sites - Sepetiba (Brazil); Dalian (China); Mumbai (India); Kharg Island (Iran); Saldanha (South Africa) and Odessa (Ukraine) were chosen as representative of the six main developing regions of the world; South   America, East Asia, South Asia, Arab Countries/Persian Gulf, Africa and Eastern Europe. These sites, besides developing   into six "centers of excellence" in ballast water management, also acted as a catalyst for developing regional agreements and strategic action plans.
  • In order to develop and implement national ballast water management plans for each pilot country Ballast Water Risk Assessments were undertaken to assess risk of introductions of marine species. Port Baseline Surveys were made of native biota and introduced marine species. Training Packages were developed to train administrators, port and shipping personnel in ballast water management measures as contained in IMO guidelines. Legislation relevant to ballast water in each country was evaluated and improvements suggested.
  • Awareness and expertise were increased though training and awareness campaigns. Established best practices and standard models for technical activities as well as stimulated innovative and effective ballast water management solutions and technology transfers.
  • GloBallast established cooperative links with a number of other projects in the International Waters portfolio and has provided expert advice, guidance, templates and models to other bodies involved in the issue, including IMO's own MEPC Ballast Water Working Group, the International Council for the Exploration of the Seas (ICES), International Council for the Exploration of the Mediterranean Sea (CIESM), Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), the EU MARTOB Project, Nordic Council of Ministers, World Conservation Union (IUCN), Global Invasive Species Programme (GISP), the Australian Ballast Water Treatment Consortium (ABWTC), Fisheries and Oceans Canada and others.   As a result standardised methodologies developed through GloBallast were adopted by other groups around the world, GloBallast activities were replicated by these groups, providing greater synergy and cooperation, collaboration, communication and coordination.
  • The project was also successful in securing collaboration from the shipping industry and national governments. I n some pilot sites, submission rates of ballast water reporting forms by ships approached 60-70% , far in excess of the 25% target. ( In developed countries such as the US , the Coast Guard was only achieving an average compliance rate of 30% across all ports.) In most pilot countries the national governments have also taken the initiative to extend collection of reporting forms from the demonstration sites to other ports.
  • In 2001 and 2003 the GloBallast project held global R&D symposia at which ballast water treatment standards were developed and at the same time entered into cooperative arrangements with the World Maritime University for the review of legislation in each country and the development of model legislation for the implementation of IMO ballast water management requirements.
  • GloBallast was awarded the Queen's Golden Jubilee Medal for the Marine Environment in 2003.

Legal

  • The International Convention for the Control and Management of Ships' Ballast Water & Sediments was adopted at IMO in London in February 2004. Among its measures are a requirement for ships to have on board and implement a Ballast Water Management Plan, to maintain a Ballast Water Record Book and whenever possible, conduct ballast water exchange at least 200 nautical miles from the nearest land and in water at least 200 metres deep. For certain ships constructed after 2009, ballast water treatment requirements would have to be met and eventually by 2016, all ships would have to meet the ballast water treatment requirements, thus phasing out the ballast water exchange requirement which is considered as a temporary measure. The Convention requires ratification by at least 30 states, the combined merchant fleet of which constitutes not less than 35% of the gross-tonnage of the world's merchant shipping, in order to enter into force.
  • GloBallast pilot countries had already completed foundation activities for National Ballast Water Management Plans (NBWMP) before the International Convention was adopted. Three pilot countries (Brazil, China and Ukraine) passed interim regulations and one (South Africa) developed a draft policy on Ballast Water Management, which will be used as a model by the other countries and will provide the framework of NBWMP. The Nordic Council of Ministers, North Sea Ministers Conference and OSPAR members also all adopted ballast water resolutions, while Norway and Belgium proceeded with national BW legislation.
  • Although adoption of the International Convention provides a uniform and harmonized global regulatory regime for this issue, some countries and even ports have continued to make unilateral regulatory arrangements, including among others, the State of Washington, USA and Victoria, Australia, which brought new domestic ballast water policies into force in 2004; the Japanese government which passed an Invasive Alien Species Act in June 2004.)

Communications

  • A communications network including global and pilot country-specific web-site s, databases/directories , library collections , regular newsletter and an information clearing house was established.
  • The GloBallast Programme has established a collection of reports, monographs, papers and other publications on all aspects of ballast water management and invasive marine species as part of a global information resource centre. This collection is held by the IMO library in London and is also made available through the GloBallast website (http://globallast.imo.org)
  • As part of the GloBallast information clearing-house function, a new monograph series, including reports and proceedings of conferences and workshops as well as technical, scientific and consultancy activities, has been launched.
  • In addition to the GloBallast Monograph Series, other documents such as the Ballast Water Treatment R&D Directory and reports of Global Task Force meetings are also published, in order to disseminate information about and results from the programme
  • A photo competition was organized by IUCN, and sponsored by Fujifilm, in 2004 to raise awareness of the impact of alien invasive species on native animals and plants.
  • Awareness programme has published posters, (languages include Arabic, Chinese, English, Farsi, Spanish, Portuguese, Ukrainian and Hindi) brochures and works through the internet.
  • An animated presentation about the GloBallast Programme can be viewed on the website.
  • GloBallast, in cooperation with BBC, produced a high quality TV documentary on ballast water issues and the global response to the issue. Funding, technical advice, access to ships and logistical support for the production was given by a number of industry sponsors and IMO. The film was launched in March 2006 and will be available for broadcasting worldwide through BBC's distribution networks in developed countries and through UNDP film distribution networks in developing countries.

Training

Modular ballast water management training courses have been conducted at sites.   A training package was also developed in 2003 in partnership with UN Train-Sea-Coast. Regional deliveries of the training package were also undertaken in several regions. Some of the pilot countries (e.g., China) took initiatives and mobilized own resources to provide such regional training.

Meetings

  • 1st Black Sea Conference on Ballast Water Control and Management (Odessa, Ukraine, October 2001)
  • Baltic Regional Workshop on Ballast Water Management (Tallinn, Estonia, October 2001)
  • 2nd GEF International Waters Conference was held in (Dalian, September 2002,)
  • Regional Clean Seas Organization (RECSO)/ IMO Seminar on Tanker Ballast Water Management and Technologies - (Dubai, United Arab Emirates, December 2002,)
  • Third International Conference on Marine Bioinvasions (California, USA, March 2003)
  • The 12th International Conference on Aquatic Invasive Species (Windsor, Canada, June 2003).
  • The 49th meeting of IMO's Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC) (London, July 2003)
  • The 2nd International Ballast Water Treatment R&D Symposium (IMO headquarters, London July 2003). The 1st Symposium was held at IMO (March 2001)
  • 1st International Ballast Water Risk Assessment Workshop, (Melbourne, September 2003)
  • GloBallast attended the "White Water to Blue Water" partnerships conference held to raise awareness of the invasive aquatic species and ballast water issue among Caribbean countries. (Miami, Florida; March 2004)
  • The 2nd International Ballast Water Management Conference and Exhibition (Singapore, May 2004).
  • The 12th International Congress on Marine Corrosion and Fouling (, Southampton, UK, July 2004).
  • The 13th International Conference on Aquatic Invasive Species (Ennis, Ireland, September 2004).

Partners etc

GloBallast has established c o-operative links with APEC, Caspian Sea Environment Programme, Black Sea Environment Programme/Istanbul Commission, Mediterranean Action Programme, Regional Clean Sea Organization, ROPME, HELCOM, SPREP, PEMSEA, IUCN Regional Programmes and other regional bodies.

Dedicated website: http://globallast.imo.org

Newsletter: Ballast Water News. (Quarterly)

Last updated: 18 December 2006

 

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