Antifouling & Ballast Water Top MEPC 43 Agenda 
June 27th to July 2nd, London:
The Marine Environmental Protection Committee (MEPC), the scientific and technical eyes of the International Maritime Organization, is meeting for the 43rd session. Shippers
throughout the globe use these meetings as an environmental issues barometer to pending maritime actions. This session's agenda includes:
- harmful aquatic organisms in ballast water
- harmful effects of the use of antifouling paints for ships
- consideration and adoption of amendments
- identification and protection of Particularly Sensitive Sea Areas
- inadequacy of reception facilities
- prevention of air pollution from ships
- technical co-operation program and at least 14 other agenda items.
Harmful organisms in ballast water
The ballast water working group is concentrating on getting out of committee and into regulation/guideline. The US delegation hopes to draft a workable instrument
understandable by mariners. European factions are looking to iron out details on guideline exemptions. Certain delegations want to exempt salt water ballast exchanges
for voyages of three days or less. This working group is not likely to produce a document ready to go forward in the near future.
Harmful effects of the use of antifouling paints
Likely to be the most contentious yet productive working group. Main goal is to hammer out a legal instrument to enforce the ban on TBT antifoulants. Last November
the group set dates to ban application of TBT by 01/01/2003 and a complete ban on ship hulls by 01/01/2008. Marshall Islands and a shipping group led by BIMCO are
proposing an extension on the dates, citing the lack of effective alternative antifoulants.
Reports of sub-committees
The Group of Experts on Scientific Aspects of Marine Environmental Protection or GESAMP
(see
CQD volume 4, Number 5, November 1998) will need approval from the
IMO to increase their operating budget. To meet the imposed deadline of over 600 chemical profile re-determinations by 2002, GESAMP needs to meet at least 6 times in the next two years.Port reception facilities
IMO is fronting the effort to improve waste management facilities, particularly in third world ports. Streamlining management strategies and a debate on mandatory waste
management fees on a vessel by vessel basis are the main topics.
Other business
Certain delegations are complaining about the number of working groups and
discussion groups at MEPC. Many delegates suspect this is an effort to stall further progress on maritime environmental issues.
Ship scrapping and environmental liability will be proposed to be included on the
MEPC's future agenda.
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Invasive Species: In the Ballast Water or on the Hull?
Ballast water may not be the
only place invasive stowaways are hiding aboard ships. Recent research indicates hull fouling will likely play a much greater role then before in exotic species introduction. Organisms hitching rides
amongst the foul encrusted hulls of ships may eventually constitute a greater threat then those in ballast water.
Dan Minchin of Fisheries Research Center in Dublin, Ireland and Stephan Gollasch of
the Institute for Marine Studies in Kiel, Germany are two prominent scientists performing separate studies on ship hull fouling as a vector of introduction for invasive
species. Both experts are due to publish reports this summer.
History of hull hitchhikers
Minchin points out the introduction of exotic species via biota amassed on a ship's hull
is not a new problem. He recently documented historical introductions of species such as exotic marine algae and plants in Cork Harbour, Ireland. Species invasions believed
to be imported from ships hulls were noted in 1905, 1911, 1939, 1957 and as late as 1971.
Until recently, however, fouling on hulls has not been considered a significant problem.
Minchin explains this: "The efficient biocidal antifoulant TBT paints, widely available to shipping since 1972, may have significantly reduced the potential for dispersal of
fouling organisms, by reduction of fouling biomass (ICES Coop. Res. Rep. No. 244).
TBT paint usage is now in decline and will likely be banned in the near future
(CQD Volume 5, Number 1 &
Volume 4, Number 2). Thanks to a general trend in remediation, port areas are cleaner now then they've been in decades. Unfortunately,
the combination of these factors make the ports more vulnerable to invasions of exotic species particularly via hull fouling. Minchin wants the shipping industry to be aware
of this potential danger and to begin talking about exotic species management from all vectors and not just ballast water.Minchin is currently studying the correlation between ship hull hitchhikers and water
temperature changes. Ships pass through rapid water temperature fluctuations while entering harbors and channels. Sudden temperature swings may initiate spawning of
species that have inoculated themselves on the biomass built up on a ship's hull. The danger is, temperature surges will likely trigger exotic species to spawn at precisely the
wrong locations, places such as coastal waters in port channels. Populations could easily become established in such waters since they are similar to the environment
they originated from. Tests Minchin is currently performing in the Irish Sea supports this hypothesis.
Invasions in the North Sea
Gollasch, a scientific advisor and member of the German delegation for the ballast
water working group at IMO's MEPC 43, is pressing his colleagues to re-condsider the hull fouling dilemma. He is in the midst of extensive studies on species introduction in
the North Sea as well as joint projects with major centers in Europe.
Gollasch performed an historical evaluation of unintended species introduction in the
North and Baltic Seas. In it, he compared vectors of introduction including ballast water and hull fouling. In the 1992 to 1995 time frame, Gollasch noted most of the
non-native species with the highest potential for establishment were from fouled hulls. 53% of the marine exotic species found in the North Sea were introduced by shipping.
Of the species connectable to shipping, 66% were introduced from the hull; 34% form ballast tanks.
However, Gollasch cautions "most of the species of high concern are transported in
ballast water including cholera bacteria and phytoplankton algae causing harmful algal blooms."
Gollasch believes other marine ecosystems show similar results. He believes the risk of
species introduction off of ships hulls in increasing and without TBT it could be even worse.
Both Gollasch and Minchin agree that the IMO and the shipping industry should look
into this problem. Ballast water has gotten so much press lately that people have overlooked the danger from ships' hulls.
Antifouling working group ignoring the issue?
IMO's antifoulant working group is particularly negligent since it is not even considering the issue of exotic species invasion in its discussions. This is despite the
fact that the group is promoting a ban of the one biocide (TBT) attributable to protecting domestic ports from invasions for the last three decades. Minchin suggests
"although the International Maritime Organization have recommended further controls on its [TBT antifoulant] general use by shipping, whatever replaces it will need to be as effective (ICES Coop. Res. Rep. No. 224)."
As with all environmental problems, an holistic approach must be pursued when dealing with invasive species and antifoulants. All issues should be taken into
consideration including the environmental risks of exotic species harming local ecosystems and the environmental risks of TBT biocides harming non-target species.
The dangers of dealing with each problem in an individualistic fashion is highlighted by the TBT antifoulant problem. To blindly ignore the benefits TBT has had in stopping
species from inoculating on ships' hulls could lead the industry towards future environmental disasters.
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