Developing Effective Framework for Managing Ballast Water Contaminants from Ships on Ballast Voyages from Europe to Nigerian Seaports
The study investigated the invasive qualities of ballast water samples from ships on ballast voyages from European sea regions into Nigeria seaport with a view to developing a sustainable framework for ballast water management in Nigeria seaports in line with the standards of the International Maritime Organization. The objectives of the study was among other things to compare the ballast water samples from ships on ballast voyages from European sea regions to Nigeria, with samples taken from local waters in Nigeria seaports. The study used experimental research design in which ballast water samples from ships on ballast voyages from European sea region as well as samples from local waters in Nigeria seaports were collected subjected to laboratory test/experiment to determine the level of invasive species, metallic ions, PH, conductivity, hardness, acidity, among many other qualities. Primary data was collected from the experiment. The difference of means statistical method implemented with the use of SSPS statistical software was used to analyze the data obtained. It was found that the ballast water samples from local Nigeria waters have significantly higher phytoplankton content than the ballast water samples from ships on ballast voyages from European region; the ballast water sample from the European sea region have significantly higher content of algae, amoeba triphobiotes and other non-chlorophyll rich invasive species than the local ballast water sample from Nigeria. Phytoplankton has a t-score of 48.568 of and of p-value 0.000, which indicates that there exists significant difference in concentration of phytoplankton between ballast waters samples collected from the two regions. Triphyboites of amoeba has t-score of 10.333 and p-value of 0.002; indicating the existence of significant difference between the concentration of triphyboites of amoeba in waters of European and Nigeria sea regions. The test indicates that the turbidity, conductivity, hardness and total dissolved solids (TDS) of ballast waters samples from European sea region are significantly higher than that of the local sample from the Nigerian waters. Moreover, the study shows that the there is significant difference between the acidity and alkalinity (chemical properties) of the European region and local ballast water samples used in the study. A framework for effective ballast water management in Nigeria seaports was developed based on the findings of the study.
Keywords: ballast, water, management, framework, seaports, Nigeria.
