Impoving risk assessment of invasive alien species and cost-efficiency analysis of ballast water treatment methods (IRIS)

Research Project, 2014 – 2015

The aim of the main project is to build a risk assessment tool by combining the information about the planned route, the key environmental factors in ports, ship type, and ballast water treatment methods. This tool would offer practical solutions to prevent invasive alien species spread in the Baltic Sea through ship ballast water and hull fouling. By adding the likely costs of different treatment methods, the tool also allows the search of an optimal, route- and ship-specific alternative. This tool could be used by the authorities for evaluating the arguments for and against the exemptions. It would also help the shipowners in the search of optimal, cost-effective ballast water management procedure for a certain ship type and route to prevent invasive alien species from spreading to new areas.