SNAME Ad Hoc Panel on Ballast Water Management

Last revised: April 15, 1997

New

The USCG has recently (April 10, 1998) published a Notice of proposed rule making (NPRM) entitled "Implementation of the National Invasive Species Act of 1996". Comments are requested prior to June 9,1998. The document my be downloaded here in Adobe Acrobat (.pdf - 143Kb) or Text (.txt -65Kb):

Download nisa.pdf
Download nisa.txt

General Charter

The overall vision of the T&R program is to play a regular and active role in commenting on industry problems and events that require technical input. It cooperates and works closely with the SNAME Advisory Public Service, Publications, Papers, and Planning Committees and with other national and international organizations and technical societies.

The T&R program, through the activities of its initial Ad Hoc Panels (RoRo Safety, Intact Stability and Environmental Performance) has made meaningful contributions in support of the US and Canadian delegations to IMO. It is our vision to continue these contributions through follow-on work to that done by the above Panels and through the work on new Panels such as the Ad Hoc Loadlines Panel and the new Ad Hoc Ballast Water Management Panel.

The Ad Hoc Panel on Ballast Water Management seeks to study the various aspects of ballast water management to prevent the spread of non-indigenous species and other undesirable matter transported in ships’ ballast tanks. It further envisions providing technical back ground support, if requested, to the US and Canadian delegations to the IMO Working Group on Ballast Water Management and to various vessel operators and other organizations concerned with ballast water issues.

Initial concepts to be considered:

  1. Recommendations for R&D associated BWE.
  2. What are the safety aspects associated with exchange?
  3. Reviewing and commenting on the Coast Guard’s NPRM, which reaffirms the Non-indigenous Aquatic Nuisance Prevention and Control Act of 1990.
  4. Recognizing that BWE is considered by many as a stopgap measure, what are the most promising alternatives considering ship safety and feasibility.
  5. What is the potential for land-based treatment? Issues: quantities, reception facilities.
  6. What onboard treatment methods are available? Issues: safety, environmental concerns, marine engineering aspects, and political considerations.

We expect that the work of this initial AdHoc panel will continue over the next 12 months.

The longer tern charter of the panel will involve both ballast water exchange for existing and new ships and the treatment of ballast water, when required, by filtration and other means. Succeeding Ad Hoc Panels will be formed to handle the ongoing activities as needs are identified.

Meetings

A kickoff meeting was held on Monday November 3, 1997 in Washington DC at the offices of the Northeast-Midwest Institute, hosted by Allegra Congelosi.

The second panel meeting was held on December 5th in Ann Arbor at the University of Michigan,Department of Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering, hosted by Prof. Mike Parsons.

It is the intent of the panel to generally conduct most of our business and deliberations via e-mail and through the use of the SNAME web site.

Membership

Additional Information and Related Links

The Canadian Coast Guard, Department of Fisheries and Oceans, has compiled an extensive bibliography on ballast water as the vector for introduction of aquatic nuisance species. This bibliography, including related web links, and the full texts of a number of technical papers is available on CD from the Canadian Coast Guard, and portions are soon to be available on this site.