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Full text: Risk assessment of in-water cleaning (IWC) of ships in the Baltic Sea region

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interreg 
Baltic Sea Region 
JROPEAN 
36I0MAL 
7VELOPMENT 
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” COMPLETE PLUS 
To date, there are no harmonized regulations for waste management in the BSR. Approval of 
sleaning companies and their capture and filtration technology is currently in the hands of the 
national competent authorities. BIMCO recommends that “the separation and/or treatment of 
captured materials during in-water cleaning both: (1) removes at least 90% (by mass) of material 
from seawater influent and (2) at least 95% of particulate material in effluent water is 10 um in 
equivalent spherical diameter (ESD) (BIMCO 2021).” Watermann et al. (2021) also suggested a 
filtration of “at least 10 um [mesh sizes]” for IWC in the Baltic Sea. 
In another study by Soon et al. (2021) that calculated TSS (total suspended solids) from a unit hull 
area, 75-94% of the particles in the polluted water were =8 um. Consequently, their 
recommendation on a filtration system comprises a mesh size of 8 um (Soon et al. 2021). The 
results of the COMPLETE project, the currently available filtration techniques and the information 
of the stakeholder group lead to a recommended mesh sizes of at least 10 um, which is technically 
feasible and ecologically worthwhile. 
Orange: IWC with Capture & Filtration plus biocides and/ or prior environmental risk assessment 
IWC on biocidal coatings in the Baltic Sea Region is only allowed with a cleaning method including 
capture and filtration with explicitly filtering biocides and/ or a prior chemical risk assessment. 
Furthermore, a permission premises that the preconditions of accessible hull and niche areas and 
the possibility of IWC according to the manufacturer’s specification are met as well as that the 
biosecurity risk is not high for ships with an international trading area. 
Technology that is able to filter biocides already exists in form of a charcoal filter but literature 
about it and practical implementation in the BSR is sparse. If not explicitly filtered, dissolved 
biocides can be “released into the harbour basin during cleaning (Watermann et al. 2021)”. 
Conducting a prior chemical risk assessment with appropriate results, IWC with Capture & 
Filtration could be permitted without an explicit filtration of biocides. There is no harmonized 
procedure in the BSR for such a chemical risk assessment yet. 
As an example of how an environmental risk assessment could be proceeded, Soon et al. (2021) 
conducted a study for IWC in ports which was based on the MAMPEC-Model (Marine Antifoulant 
Model to Predict Environmental Concentrations) that is usually used for the calculation of Ballast 
Water Values. In their study, they calculate the total load of the environment on the basis of the 
release rate of TSS (total suspended solids) and the total area cleaned in a certain location at a 
certain time period (Soon et al. 2021). Additionally, the determination of the environmental 
concentration and consequently the risk, requires to include other parameters in combination. 
These parameters encompass hydrodynamics (e.g. tidal period, flow velocity etc.), water 
parameters (e.g. salinity, temperature, pH-value etc.), wind and the port layout (Soon et al. 2021). 
As their results presented a base for assessing an environmental risk, a harmonized procedure 
for a chemical risk assessment in the future could work similar. 
Red: IWGC not permitted/ Dry-dock 
If the preconditions are not met, a marine pest alert in the ships trading area is announced or the 
combination of a given hazardous substances, particle input and the biosecurity risk is too high,
	        
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