BALMAS Project – Ballast water management system for Adriatic Sea protection

Strategic BALMAS Project

The Institute for Water of the Republic of Slovenia was the lead partner in the international strategic project called BALMAS – BALlast Water Management System for Adriatic Sea Protection, 85 % of which was co-financed by the European Union in the frame of the IPA Adriatic Cross-Border Cooperation Programme 2007–2013, while the remaining 15 % was provided on the national level by individual project partners, i.e. 10 % by the Government Office for Development and European Cohesion Policy and 5 % by the Ministry of the Environment and Spatial Planning. This project involved 16 project partners and 7 associate partners from 6 countries from the Adriatic region (Slovenia, Italy, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and Albania).

The general BALMAS objective was to establish a common cross-border system linking all Adriatic research, experts and national responsible authorities to avoid the unwanted risks to the environment and humans from the transfer of HAOP, through the control and management of ships’ ballast water and sediments.

In the frame of the BALMAS project, the following was prepared/developed:

1. Guidelines for the implementation of common methods and approaches to prevent the transfer of harmful aquatic organisms and pathogens with ballast water;
2. Ballast Water Management Decision Support System, including Risk Assessment, Ballast Water Sampling and Compliance Monitoring and Enforcement under the International convention for the control and management of ships’ ballast water and sediments;
3. Integrated Operational Plan for Ballast Water Management in the Adriatic, which was coordinated in the whole Adriatic region according to the International convention for the control and management of ships’ ballast water and sediments;
4. Ballast Water Management Strategy for the Adriatic, in which financial, institutional and political sustainability in the region were considered for a long-term effective ballast water management in the Adriatic.

The results of the BALMAS project are in compliance with the environmental and other objectives of the European Marine Directive and the European Maritime Policy, because they prevent significant impacts on or risks to the marine environment by keeping the presence of contaminants in the marine environment and their biological impacts within acceptable limits.

The project’s content was developed on the basis of the activities and conclusions of the Joint Slovenian-Croatian-Italian Commission for the Protection of the Adriatic Sea and Coastal Areas against Pollution and its Sub-Commission for Ballast Water Management in the Adriatic Sea, where the Adriatic countries have identified this subject matter as a priority.

Link to BALMAS Documentary:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B4_D2myKJHc

Publications

Penko L., Zupančič G., Kocijančič U., Popit A., Gorišek M., Aubreht A., Forte C., Magaletti E., Marini M., Grilli F., Bastianini M., Ninčević-Gladan Ž., Zec D., Joksimović D., Markovčič-Kostelac M., Vidas S. (2016) Integrated Operational Plan for Ballast Water Management in the Adriatic. Institute for Water of the Republic of Slovenia, Ljubljana, 74 p.

Markovčič-Kostelac M., Zec D., Rak G. (2016) Ballast Water Management Strategy for the Adriatic. Institute for Water of the Republic of Slovenia, Ljubljana, 22 p.

Related Content

1. BALMAS
2. IPA Adriatic Cross-Border Cooperation Programme 2007–2013
3. European Commission
4. Government Office for Development and European Cohesion Policy
5. Ministry of the Environment and Spatial Planning

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