ABSTRACT

Every day more than 7000 different marine species are transferred to different ecosystems via ballast water. The introduction of invasive species can cause problems to native species. After realizing these serious problems caused by the organisms carried in ballast water, national and international regulations were developed. In 2004, the IMO introduced the "International Convention for the Control and Management of Ships' Ballast Water and Sediments". With these regulations, the problems caused by ballast water have attracted attention and many companies have started to research and develop ballast water management technologies. Today, there are hundreds of different systems for ballast water treatment and the selection of the most suitable system for a specific vessel is an increasingly important issue as the Convention nears enforcement on 8 September 2017. The goal of this study is to demonstrate that Key Performance Indicator (KPI) application for Ballast Water Treatment (BWT) System selection is a very useful tool enabling shipyards to compare BWT systems to make better choices and to designate the most adequate system for their ships. In this study two types of vessels from a shipyard in Istanbul-Turkey with different ballast water capacities and equipment are examined and the most suitable systems are selected by using the KPI method.