2014 Planktonology Invited Lecture Series 1
“Pollution from Ships: An Overview of Issues in
Ballast Water”
by
Dr. Hing Lee Siang
Universiti Malaysia Terengganu
Organized by
MMB3302 (Planktonology) Class
Semester II 2013-2014
On
March 20, 2014 (Thursday)
At
9:00 to 11:00 AM
Auditorium 1, UMT
Programme
9:00 AM Arrival of Guests and Participants
9:15 AM Prayer
9:20 AM Welcome Address by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Siti Aishah Abdullah, Lecturer MMB 3302 (Planktonology)
9:30 AM Pollution from Ships: An Overview of Issues in Ballast Water
10:30 AM Open Forum
11:00 AM Closing
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Pollution from Ships: An Overview of Issues in
Ballast Water
ABSTRACT
Ship ballast water has long been recognized as a source of transfer of marine organisms between coastal ecosystems. Depending on the port water species richness, a wide diversity of planktonic organisms could be transported through ballast water and discharged into destination port when the ship’s cargo load takes on the ballast role. The problem of marine fouling organisms such as barnacles, tunicates, and bivalves, in ports and adjacent areas, is always associated with the shipping industry. This is because they spread through ballast water as larvae or through spawning when inhabiting on the hulls or on other submerged surfaces of a ship.
The discharge of ballast water not only brought in species but also chemical pollutants such as heavy metals and hydrocarbons. The impact of chemical pollution will become prominent especially at enclosed harbour where water circulation is limited and pollutants tend to accumulate. Long term discharge and accumulation of pollutants in port areas will certainly give great impact to the ecosystem at the port as well as its adjacent areas. World seaborne trade had increased steadily over the year this means more ballast water, more species and more chemical pollutant will be transported from one area to another.
This talk shares and updates the ballast water issues with the focus on IMO’s International Convention for the Control and Management of Ship’s Ballast Water and Sediments; ballast water sampling; and possible future research prospects on ballast water treatment and port baseline study.
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Dr. Hing Lee Siang
Senior Lecturer
School of Marine Science and Environment
Universiti Malaysia Terengganu, 21030 Kuala Terengganu, Terengganu, Malaysia
Hing Lee Siang PhD is a Senior Lecturer at the School of Marine Science and Environment, Universiti Malaysia Terengganu. She was one of the pioneer batches of Marine Science students in Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) Terengganu campus, and subsequently obtained her Master of Science Degree in Environment from the same campus. Hing obtained her PhD from Royal Holloway, University of London in 2005 and has been a lecturer at UMT since then. She specializes in the study of pollutants toxicological impact on the marine organisms particularly marine microalgae.
Her current research focuses on marine alien and invasive species introduced through ballast water and she has conducted the pioneer study of ship ballast water in Malaysia in recent years. She was part of the multi-national ballast water and invasive species research project funded by the ASEAN-India cooperation framework and was recipient of various research grants from E-Science Fund and FRGS. She is the lead author for A Handbook of Basic Water Quality Analysis published by Penerbit UMT.