Comparison between ballast water sampling skid and traditional ballast water sampling devices: A case study of ship sampling

Abstract

With the ratification of the International Convention for the Control and Management of Ships' Ballast Water and Sediments in 2004, assessing the compliance of ships with ballast water discharge standards has become imperative. To facilitate this task, a sampling skid was developed to collect ballast water samples efficiently in the confined space of a ship. This study compared the sampling performance of the sampling skid, conventional ballast water sampling devices (e.g., manholes and sounding pipes), and sampling devices for ballast water discharge pipelines (zooplankton nets) over three biological size ranges: ≥50 μm, ≥10 μm to <50 μm and <10 μm. The results showed no significant differences between the sampling skid and other sampling devices in these size ranges. When continuous sampling was performed, biological data obtained by the sampling skid were more stable than those obtained by conventional ballast water sampling devices. Furthermore, the utilization of a sampling skid ensured a stable sampling flow rate and reduced sampling time compared to similar sampling methods. The potential impact of the performance of this sampling equipment on different vessel types and sampling environments should be explored more thoroughly in future work.