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Source: Tanker operator
An innovative partnership involving the IMO, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and four major private shipping corporations, including two leading tanker companies, was unveiled this week.
Based at the IMO headquarters it was formed to harness the different skills and expertise to develop concrete solutions to ballast water transfer problems.
Called the Global Industry Alliance (GIA), it was launched on 2nd March and is a unique public/private partnership set up to tackle the threats of marine bio-invasions caused by the transfer of alien plants and animals in ships' ballast tanks.
According to IMO's findings, an estimated 10 bill tonnes of ballast water are being carried around the world each year and more than 3,000 species of plants and animals are being transferred daily. As a result, a serious environmental threat has developed. The damage done by these alien species is costing the world billions of dollars, the IMO said.
A few years ago, a regulatory framework for ballast water management was developed, culminating in the 2004 adoption by IMO member states of the International Convention for the Control and Management of Ships' Ballast Water and Sediments.
So far, very little of the vessels’ ballast water is being managed in a way that minimises the spread of these plants and animals and new invasions are being recorded at an alarming rate, mainly due to the escalation of ship movements.
The Alliance will contribute to research and development of cost effective ballast water treatment technologies that can be fitted on board ships. In addition, it will assist with exploring new ship design options such as 'flow thru' ballast tanks and 'ballast-free ships'. It aims to promote the transfer and diffusion of technology within the industry by opening a ballast water information exchange mechanism, developing training tools and establishing an industry dialogue forum.
First aired in 2005, the agreement to form GIA was initiated by GloBallast Partnerships - a joint initiative founded by IMO, UNDP and GEF. To date, four major shipping companies - APL, BP Shipping, Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering and Vela Marine International - have signed up to this partnership. More shipping concerns have expressed interest in joining.
IMO Secretary-General Efthimios Mitropoulos said that he hoped the GIA would be a model for more maritime public/private partnerships in the future. He also added that this coming July’s MEPC meeting would be decisive on the greenhouse gas problem through the reduction of vessel emissions ahead of the Copenhagen meeting.
An innovative partnership involving the IMO, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and four major private shipping corporations, including two leading tanker companies, was unveiled this week.
Based at the IMO headquarters it was formed to harness the different skills and expertise to develop concrete solutions to ballast water transfer problems.
Called the Global Industry Alliance (GIA), it was launched on 2nd March and is a unique public/private partnership set up to tackle the threats of marine bio-invasions caused by the transfer of alien plants and animals in ships' ballast tanks.
According to IMO's findings, an estimated 10 bill tonnes of ballast water are being carried around the world each year and more than 3,000 species of plants and animals are being transferred daily. As a result, a serious environmental threat has developed. The damage done by these alien species is costing the world billions of dollars, the IMO said.
A few years ago, a regulatory framework for ballast water management was developed, culminating in the 2004 adoption by IMO member states of the International Convention for the Control and Management of Ships' Ballast Water and Sediments.
So far, very little of the vessels’ ballast water is being managed in a way that minimises the spread of these plants and animals and new invasions are being recorded at an alarming rate, mainly due to the escalation of ship movements.
The Alliance will contribute to research and development of cost effective ballast water treatment technologies that can be fitted on board ships. In addition, it will assist with exploring new ship design options such as 'flow thru' ballast tanks and 'ballast-free ships'. It aims to promote the transfer and diffusion of technology within the industry by opening a ballast water information exchange mechanism, developing training tools and establishing an industry dialogue forum.
First aired in 2005, the agreement to form GIA was initiated by GloBallast Partnerships - a joint initiative founded by IMO, UNDP and GEF. To date, four major shipping companies - APL, BP Shipping, Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering and Vela Marine International - have signed up to this partnership. More shipping concerns have expressed interest in joining.
IMO Secretary-General Efthimios Mitropoulos said that he hoped the GIA would be a model for more maritime public/private partnerships in the future. He also added that this coming July’s MEPC meeting would be decisive on the greenhouse gas problem through the reduction of vessel emissions ahead of the Copenhagen meeting.
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