Over 80% of the world’s commodities are being moved by shipping and it is estimated that approximately 7 billion tons of ballast water is transferred from one region to another globally each year.

 

Ballast water is normally sea water of variable quantity and location used to keep the ships trim, draught, stability and structural loading within safe limits as the distribution of cargo and other liquids takes place during normal ship operations. At any one-time ballast water can naturally contain an estimated 7,000 different species of organisms comprising plankton (microscopic plants and animals), bacteria and viruses. 

 

The vast majority of marine species carried in ballast water do not survive the ships journey. However, some species do survive and through the discharge of ballast water these are inadvertently introduced into new ecosystems. Once discharged some species can withstand a wide range of environmental conditions and may not have natural predators. In such cases these organisms can become invasive species causing a change in the ecosystem balance. Once such changes have occurred the effects are irreversible.

 

To combat this ever growing threat to our planet, the IMO Ballast Water Convention introduced legislation in 2017 that requires ships to fit a ballast water treatment system. All ships are expected to undertake Ballast Water Exchange in accordance with IMO Regulation and installation of an approved Ballast Water Treatment system in accordance with the IMO Regulation D2.

 

In order to carry out these necessary modifications, it is essential to have complete engineering drawings of the vessel and that is where NorthStar 3D Scanning Bureau comes in. It provides the 3D scans of the interior of the vessel in order to get the detailed measurements used in preparing the drawings. 

 

This week, the company’s technical consultants scanned the vessel HG Shanghai and produced the required data files for Atlas Marine Technology Co Ltd, who will be supervising the structural modifications to the vessel when it is back at its home port. - TradeArabia News Service