Right now, environmental departments are focusing on the ships’ emissions, and what is transported in the ballast tanks. Very soon – that is, within the next five years – the focus will include the billions of micro organisms that can be found on the hull of a ship, travelling from continent to continent, in the form of biofouling, according to Head of Regulatory Affairs at Maersk Maritime Technology Niels Bjørn Mortensen’s expectations for the future.

“I think we’ll see a lot of requirements in the future regarding external cleaning of the ships. Put it this way: the USD 75 billion that the shipping companies will spend on ballast water treatment systems over the next eight years will be money wasted, considering the many interesting organisms that can be found attached to the hull of the ships,” says Niels Bjørn Mortensen to ShippingWatch, adding: