Ballast operations at ports: Nemrut Bay analysis

Ballast water operations are one of the most essential activities of commercial ships whose purpose of existence is to carry cargo between ports. With their growing ballast capacities, ships become an important vector that carries the origin species of the sea waters they took into their ballast tanks. Foreign species were transported between ports with ballast water in these operations, which have been going on since the mid-1800s. Although various guidelines were published by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) regarding ballast water, whose adverse effects on the marine environment began to be noticed in the international arena in the late 1980s, the desired positive effect could not be achieved. As a result of technological developments and R&D studies, ballast water treatment systems (D-2 Standard), which have completed the type approval process, have started to be applied on ships. The deadline for applying treatment systems, which have various types in terms of method and capacity, on ships is September 8, 2024. In this study, an application was made on ships calling Aliağa Port Nemrut Bay to investigate compliance with the International Ballast Water Management Convention and ship ballast operations’ by port state control measures. This study showed that most ballast water at Aliağa Port (73%) was treated and discharged. Mechanical filter + UV treatment systems are also the preferred type (63%) among other systems. Also, according to this study's data set, the Adriatic Sea is the majority (44%) among other origins for Aliağa Port.

Ballast water operations are one of the most essential activities of commercial ships whose purpose of existence is to carry cargo between ports. With their growing ballast capacities, ships become an important vector that carries the origin species of the sea waters they took into their ballast tanks. Foreign species were transported between ports with ballast water in these operations, which have been going on since the mid-1800s. Although various guidelines were published by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) regarding ballast water, whose adverse effects on the marine environment began to be noticed in the international arena in the late 1980s, the desired positive effect could not be achieved. As a result of technological developments and R&D studies, ballast water treatment systems (D-2 Standard), which have completed the type approval process, have started to be applied on ships. The deadline for applying treatment systems, which have various types in terms of method and capacity, on ships is September 8, 2024. In this study, an application was made on ships calling Aliağa Port Nemrut Bay to investigate compliance with the International Ballast Water Management Convention and ship ballast operations’ by port state control measures. This study showed that most ballast water at Aliağa Port (73%) was treated and discharged. Mechanical filter + UV treatment systems are also the preferred type (63%) among other systems. Also, according to this study's data set, the Adriatic Sea is the majority (44%) among other origins for Aliağa Port.