VOR ships will be part of Ecological Research
The Volvo Ocean Race is taking part in a pioneering project aimed at finding out how the oceans have been affected by ships’ exchanging of billions of tonnes of ballast water.
Each boat in the race will be involved in the programme which was initiated by the Wallenius Wilhelmsen Logistics (WWL), the logistics partner of the 2008-2009 Volvo Ocean Race. The dedicated “media crew” member on board will be responsible for taking regular water samples using a sophisticated testing process based on bioluminescence using a measuring instrument called a luminometer.
The race route provides scientists with a rare opportunity to analyse the biomass of the water in open seas not on the regular shipping lanes. It will 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 overfishing,” said WWL’s Global Head of Environment, Melanie Moore, during a recent briefing to a Media Crew Member workshop in Race HQ in Whiteley, Hampshire.
“What we want to look at is the mass of species along the race route. That’s the benefit of what the crew can do for us. It’s about conducting research that will go towards creating some better ballast water treatment systems for the future,” she added.
The research at sea by the Media Crew Member involves taking a regular water sample, recording the mass of species in the sample, reporting the results electronically and then having them published on the Volvo Ocean Race website. A scientific report of the findings will be published post-race.
To put this research in perspective, the IMO has issued a dire warning about the threat of invasive marine species carried across the world in ballast water.
“Unlike other marine pollution, from which the environment will eventually recover, the impacts of invasive marine species are most often irreversible.”