ESTIMATING THE AMOUNT OF BALLAST WATER FROM SHIPS IN THE MEDITERRANEAN: ANTALYA BAY CASE STUDY

Monitoring of Mediterranean Coastal Areas: Problems and Measurement Techniques, Livorno, Italy, 11 - 13 June 2024, pp.977-987, (Full Text)

This study estimated how much ballast water ships can produce in the Gulf of

Antalya, an important port city in the Mediterranean. The data used in the calculation was

obtained from AIS (Automatic Identification System) of the ships arriving in Antalya Bay

between 2018-2021. These ships' ballast water was determined using information from

DWT (deadweight tons) using the methods given in the literature. It was calculated as a

percentage of DWT according to ship types. As a result of the calculation, it has been

determined that three to six million metric tons of ballast water produced in four years

originates from bulk cargo ships. In addition, when other ship types are included in the

Gulf of Antalya, it is evaluated that 7-12 million metric tons of ballast water may be

produced, posing a severe threat to the Mediterranean ecosystem.