CORROSION RISKS IN SHIPS BALLAST TANKS AND THE IMO PATHOGEN GUIDELINES

The last few years have seen an increasing incidence of serious wastage of ships' ballast tanks, which has been attributed to the action of sulphate-reducing bacteria (SRB). Since SRB have been with us for many years, it is far from clear just why they should have became such a problem. Nevertheless, the cause has been recognised and preventative measures may be taken. Almost concurrently, the threat to aquatic environments due to the importation of non-native unwanted pathogens in ballast water has been recognised. Concerted international action has prompted the publication of guidelines aimed at countering this threat. However, the context in which these guidelines were written was very specific, and they have potentially dangerous implications for the ballast water-SRB-ship interface. The object of this paper is to focus attention on the implications of the guidelines on unwanted pathogens on this interface.