<b>SkySails</b>
When absorbing ballast water, organisms are regularly ingested, which can be small fish, benthic and plankton organisms or pathogenic germs. These are released when the ballast water is pumped out of the ballast water tank at another point. The ever faster shipping traffic increases the likelihood that the organisms will survive the passage in the ballast water tanks.
With the Ballast Water Convention, which was passed by the IMO in February 2004, attempts are made to counteract the spread of non-native organisms through ballast water. This convention calls for ballast water management that largely dispenses with the uncontrolled exchange of water that has hitherto been common practice when ballast water is taken in and released. Instead, the ballast water on board each ship must be treated by appropriate ballast water treatment systems before being released into the marine environment in such a way that a standard (D2-Standard) prescribed in the convention is achieved. The achievement will be through appropriate ballast water treatment systems.
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