Great Lakes Shipping, Trade, and Aquatic Invasive Species Special Report 291 (2008) / Chapter Skim
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4 The Ballast Water Vector
4 The Ballast Water Vector
Pages 63-86
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From page 63... ...
The section on vessel operations explains the terminology used to describe a vessel's ballast condition and then discusses typical ballasting patterns for each of the vessel categories and current understanding of the associated risks of AIS introduction. The chapter concludes with a description of current measures aimed at preventing further introductions of AIS into the Great Lakes by vessels transiting the seaway.
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From page 64... ...
• Inland vessels are Canadian- or U.S.-flagged vessels certified to operate solely within the inland waters of the GLSLS system, which extend as far eastward as Anticosti Island in the Gulf of St. Lawrence.2 Thus, transoceanic vessels, as defined here, correspond to the ocean vessel category used in the seaway traffic reports3 (and elsewhere)
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From page 65... ...
regulations. FLEET AND VESSEL CHARACTERISTICS Transoceanic Vessels The fleet of transoceanic vessels currently using the seaway is flagged in more than 30 foreign countries (i.e., excluding Canada and the United States)
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From page 66... ...
, the number of inbound transoceanic vessels entering the seaway each navigation season has averaged 233, with a low of 214 and a high of 260.5, 6 The transoceanic fleet using the seaway comprises three distinct groups of vessels. Large dry bulk carriers carrying imports of steel and raw materials and grain exports predominate.
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From page 67... ...
These vessels can service the eastern seaboard of the North American continent, from Nunavut in the north to Florida in the south, and in many respects are a microcosm of the entire trade through the seaway. The dry cargo vessels range from Lakes-max self-unloading bulk carriers and gearless bulk carriers to smaller geared bulk carriers and project cargo vessels, with cargo-carrying capacities from 3,000 to 39,000 DWT and ballast capacities from 2,000 to 25,000 cubic meters.
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From page 68... ...
It is, however, a fleet best described as a work in progress, since life extension is a specialty of the Great Lakes shipping industry. Such life extension is possible because the vessels operate for the most part in a relatively benign freshwater environment, as opposed to a saltwater ocean environment, and the winter layup of almost 3 months provides an opportunity for extensive steel replacements and major machinery replacements without a forced withdrawal from commercial service.
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From page 69... ...
And a vessel fully laden with cargo and with only unpumpable residual water and sediment in its ballast tanks may be described as having no ballast on board and is frequently referred to as a NOBOB. In the context of efforts to prevent further AIS introductions into the Great Lakes, a distinction has historically been made between vessels in ballast or with ballast that are able, in principle, to exchange the water in their ballast tanks with ocean water during the course of a voyage and NOBOBs that are unable to conduct such ballast water exchange (BWE, see Box 4-1 on pages 78–79)
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From page 70... ...
From an AIS perspective, however, they are essentially NOBOB vessels that cannot conduct BWE and have to be treated accordingly for the purposes of ballast water management and inspection (see later)
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From page 71... ...
Ballast water loaded by these vessels in regions outside of the Great Lakes entrains viable freshwater species that are often discharged during cargo loading in Great Lakes ports and may result in AIS introductions. Before the introduction of Canada's Voluntary Ballast Water Exchange Program for ships entering the Great Lakes in 1989 and the subsequent implementation of ballast water management regulations by the U.S.
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From page 72... ...
The trend for relatively few transoceanic vessels entering in ballast appears to be continuing, with 54 (10.3 percent) of the 523 inbound vessel transits through the MLO section of the seaway during the 2005 navigation season being in full ballast condition and 64 (9.5 percent)
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From page 73... ...
This water mixes with residual water of fresh, brackish, or saline origin in the vessel's ballast tanks. The vessel terminates the inbound leg of its voyage with a trip to Lake Superior, where the mixed ballast water is discharged (together with surviving species from the residual ballast)
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From page 74... ...
In addition, the development of container feeder trade between the Canadian Maritimes and Lake Ontario could greatly alter the nature of the coastal trade, as noted in Chapter 2. Until recently, AIS introductions vectored by vessels transiting the seaway were attributed exclusively to transoceanic vessels.
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From page 75... ...
The ballasting histories of coastal vessels entering the Great Lakes and the numbers of such vessels are only now being explored, so the associated risks of introduction are not well understood. Nonetheless, invasion biologists and other experts have cautioned that the risk of AIS introductions posed by coastal vessels should not be ignored and that appropriate prevention measures should be implemented without further delay (see, for example, Reid et al.
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From page 76... ...
Bodies Issuing Rules and Regulations Rules and regulations specifying ballast water management requirements for vessels entering the GLSLS system are issued by the Canadian and U.S. federal governments and by the joint Seaway Authorities comprising the Canadian St.
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From page 77... ...
. 16 These ballast water management requirements apply to all vessels entering waters under Canadian jurisdiction, with a few exceptions.
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From page 78... ...
. Saltwater Flushing NOBOB vessels are unable to conduct BWE because their ballast tanks contain only unpumpable residual water and sediments.
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From page 79... ...
. Some prototype systems have been installed on operational vessels, at least three of which are trading into the GLSLS system, but shipboard ballast water treatment is not currently a proven method of ballast water management in an operational environment.
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From page 80... ...
and Canadian requirements for saltwater flushing by transoceanic vessels operating in the binational waters of the GLSLS system. In February 2008, the Seaway Practices and Procedures were updated to include the saltwater flushing requirement for transoceanic NOBOB vessels.
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From page 81... ...
Table 4-1 summarizes current ballast water management requirements for the three categories of vessel transiting the seaway (transoceanic, coastal, and inland)
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From page 82... ...
Great BOB BWE, retention, or alternative Lakes ports preapproved environmen tally sound method Code of Best Practicesa Regulated Management Practicesb NOBOB Saltwater flushing mandatory from beginning of 2008 seaway navigation season Code of Best Practicesa Regulated Management Practicesb Coastal Vessels Within Canadian Canadian Great BOB or Voluntary Management EEZ Lakes ports NOBOB Practicesc U.S. Great BOB BWE, retention, or alternative Lakes ports preapproved environmen tally sound method Regulatedb and Voluntary Management Practicesc NOBOB Regulatedb and Voluntary Management Practicesc Within U.S.
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From page 83... ...
Coast Guard setting out procedures and parameters to conduct joint vessel exams in Montreal, and developed and implemented a standardized GLSLS System Joint Agency Ballast Water Management Inspection Report that captures each agency's inspection needs. Every vessel entering the GLSLS system from beyond the Canadian EEZ is subject to inspection to ensure that the salinity of the ballast, or ballast residuals, in its tanks is greater than or equal to 30 ppt.
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From page 84... ...
For minor first-time offenses, such as discrepancies in a vessel's ballast water management plan, records, or reports, the U.S. Coast Guard issues a letter of warning.
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From page 85... ...
These measures, if rigorously applied, are expected to reduce considerably further AIS introductions by transoceanic vessels. However, coastal vessels also carry a risk of introducing AIS through their ballasting operations, and not all such vessels are currently required to conduct either BWE or saltwater flushing.
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From page 86... ...
2007. Brine as a Treatment Solution for the Control of Aquatic Nuisance Species Introductions into the Great Lakes by NOBOB Vessels.
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