How to control and manage vessels’ ballast water: The perspective of Korean shipping companies

Selecting the efficiency of the technologies and reasonable strategies to ensure compliance with stricter international regulations on ballast water are issues that need to be focused on. Particularly, in a period of economic decline, these auxiliary costs due to the regulation enforcement may be a significant burden for vessel operators, especially those with old vessels, where the maintenance costs are high. Because of these new limitations on marine transport, which has been regarded as a more eco-friendly alternative than other forms of transportation, maritime policymakers in each country may need to take prudence in making policy decisions. Nevertheless, few studies have evaluated the existing alternatives that can decrease the invasion risk due to ballast water release, and fewer have developed a general system for determining the optimal technology. Accordingly, in this study, an empirical analysis focusing on the alternatives of ballast treatment systems considered by Korean shipping companies is performed. As the main approach, surveys and interviews are conducted to examine how Korean shipping companies’ real response directions help cope with the International Convention for the Control and Management of Ships’ Ballast Water and Sediments. The results indicate that, among 15 sub-criteria of considerations for response by Korean shipping companies, approval is the most considerable factor. In addition, through the description analysis of Korean shipping companies, a difference in the recognition and response direction according to firm size and vessels’ age was observed. This study's findings provides valuable suggestions for designing government policies for the shipping industry's ballast water management.