Del Cecchi wrote:

Of course ballast tanks are a different thing, or did those round gobies and
zebra mussels get into the great lakes by immaculate conception? Why are
the shippers resisting flushing ballast tanks with salt water en route?

Have you considered that the reason ballast exchange (BWE)laws now exist
is because traditional practices were discovered to be the source of
those zebra mussels and gobies?

There is little "resistance" to ballast water exchange. It has been
required by the International Maritime Organization since 1997.

There are several options under consideration to replace BWE since for
many ships exchanging ballast water in mid ocean is akin to a sailboat
exchanging its keel in the same conditions. Ballast is onboard to ensure
the ship's stability and removing it places the ship in a very
precarious state in less than ideal sea and weather conditions. It is a
time consuming practice and some runs do not provide enough time in mid
ocean, if the ship even reaches mid ocean, to completely exchange all
ballast.

There are several other systems under development to sterilize ballast
water. Ballast water is tested for exotics and to ensure that ballast
exchange has been conducted. A Google search will enlighten you with
many documents concerning this issue. But like any other activity, there
are those who will falsify documents, take shortcuts or evade the
regulations, they are not representative of the industry any more than
the yachtie who pumps his holding tank into the channel or pumps his oil
bilge into the marina at night is representative of the entire yachting
community.

Rick