Tom Mackey News

Hyde Marine’s chemical-free, IMO Type Approved ballast water treatment solution packs performance in a smaller footprint. That’s good news for small vessel operators who may soon find themselves impacted by a problem that previously was thought to be a “bluewater” issue. The notion that ballast water treatment and invasive species are both strictly the domain of big, bluewater liners coming from the Far East and other exotic locales quickly went out the porthole last November when the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued its long-awaited, updated draft Vessel General Permit (VGP) rule. The new rules potentially bring regulations to bear on vessels as small as 79 feet LOA and others, depending on service and routing.

The introduction of non-native species via the discharge of ship’s ballast water is one of the main threats to marine biodiversity, with alien species often capable of out-competing native species – effective ballast water management (BWM) and the dissemination of good practice are thus essential throughout the marine community, which is why the Institute of Marine Engineering, Science and Technology (IMarEST) is the host of a BWM Special Interest Group, the Ballast Water Expert Group (BWEG). ‘Friends of BWEG’ include the International Maritime Organization’s GloBallast Partnerships Project, which is supporting the inaugural IMarEST Ballast Water Technology Conference, with its theme ‘Impending Convention Requirements and Challenges’.

SNAME announces two international collegia designed to bring technical expertise to an international membership. Planned for October 8, 2007 in Rio de Janeiro and in Oslo, Norway, these collegia stem from the SNAME International Activities Committee’s interest in reaching out to SNAME’s growing International Member community. The planned meetings will provide a forum for members to meet and exchange ideas and technical information in a particular area of interest and geographic region. Enginharia Naval,) will feature presentations and panel discussions on topics including activities related to natural gas in Brazil, advances in the use of loading computers for offshore product units…