“The International Maritime Organization’s (IMO’s) Ballast Water Management (BWM) Convention, which is set to enter into force in September 2017, will not prevent the transfer of invasive aquatic species (IAS) unless there is mandatory legislation in place to prevent biofouling on ships’ hulls, says coating and cleaning systems producer Subsea Industries (Subsea).
Van Rompay’s comments come following a presentation in December by Dr. Theofanis Karyannis, IMO Marine Environmental Division Technical Officer, at the World Ocean Council’s Sustainable Ocean Summit, which suggestsed that hull biofouling could be more damaging than ballast water transfers.”
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