Volvo Ocean Race participate in ballast water environmental project

11 August 2008

Mumbai: The Volvo Ocean Race, the world's premier yacht race for professional racing crews, is taking part in an environmental project to analyse how the oceans have been affected by ships' exchanging of billions of tonnes of ballast water. The programme was initiated by the official logistics partner, Wallenius Wilhelmsen Logistics (WWL).

Sea vessels including large ships and cruise boats use a tremendous amount of ballast water. Ballast water discharge typically contains a variety of biological materials, including plants, animals, viruses, and bacteria. Studies have shown that these materials often include non-native, nuisance, exotic species that can cause extensive ecological and economic damage to aquatic ecosystems.

As per the programme, a dedicated team member on each yacht  will be responsible for taking regular water samples using a sophisticated testing process based on bioluminescence using a measuring instrument called a luminometer. The research at sea involves recording the mass of species in the sample and reporting the results. A scientific report of the findings will be published post-race.

The race route provides scientists with a rare opportunity to analyse the biomass of the water in deep seas, especially on the non-regular shipping routes, thanks to the race boats.

WWL, an environmental leader in logistics and ocean transportation, is very enthusiastic about the project, which provides an opportunity to advance scientific research as to how foreign invaders found in ballast water are upsetting the eco-systems in the world's great oceans.

"Invasive species are one of the four major threats to the world's oceans, the other three being global climate change, marine pollution and over fishing," said WWL's global head of environment, Melanie Moore.