Following Ways Ship’s create pollution:

While talking about marine transport,  problems in the form of pollution exist and persist, threatening our marine environment badly.Here are the major ways in which ships deteriorate the marine environment .

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WATER POLLUTION

Many big ships like the cruise ships use large amount of ballast water to stabilise the ship while travelling. The amount of ballast water released typically is around 1,000 metric tons. This ballast water is the main reason behind the water pollution caused due to ships. The ballast water contains a large amount of microbes and micro-organisms, in addition to vegetation and many other sea animals. The pollution is caused mainly due to local species and marine life.

AIR POLLUTION

The engine of the ships release unwanted substances into the air. Many gases which are mainly compounds of SOx and NOx leads to the pollution of immense proportions in the oceanic areas. Infact the air on the aft areas of these ships is as polluted as the air in the major polluted cities in the world.

OIL POLLUTION

Oil pollution from the shipping industry is one of the major factor behind the increased level of marine pollution. Ships, end up burning more heavy fuels which contains high levels of sulfur and heavy metals etc. Around 100 tons of heavy fuels are burnt by on a daily basis. Ships with faulty engines could also leak oil which then mixes with the water.

CHEMICAL POLLUTION

The entry of chemicals into the oceans through the ships by the greywater or blackwater channels are another cause of marine pollution. Ships emit fatal chemicals from batteries, dry cleaning and industrial products, chemicals for daily operations, and several other chemicals past their expiry, pollutes the water. These chemicals are dangerous for the life of aquatic creatures.

GREY WATER POLLUTION

Ships dump more wastewater offshore (after passing through a treatment plant), especially Grey water that comes from sinks, laundries, showers etc. Thus, even the most regular chores on the  ship, such as cleaning utensils and doing the laundry, causes pollution. This water accumulation contains not just harmful chemicals but sometimes even metals and minerals too. The studies show that on an average release one million gallon of grey water into the oceans in a week.

NOISE POLLUTION

The high noises produced by the ships affects the environment as it disturbs the marine ecosystem. Apart from the noise pollutions from the ships machinery, cruise ships produce much more noise  because of the entertainment activities on board. These noises disturb the marine animals and mammals. These animals have sensitive hearing which often leads to their untimely death and huge loss to the ecosystem.

SEWAGE POLLUTION

The ships simply dump the human wastes acquired through the passengers and the crew members of the ship into the oceans. So the water gets polluted due to the sewage being deposited into the oceans. Known as blackwater around 7000 gallons of human sewage is deposited into the ocean. Such wastes are rich in bacteria and algae adversely affecting the marine creatures and effectively the marine ecosystem.

SOLID WASTE POLLUTION

The ships produces around seven tons of garbage and solid waste in a single day. The solid wastes generated by the ships includes the metallic and the organic solid wastes. These end up forming unwanted debris on the surface of our oceans, posing large scale threats to the marine creatures.

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