Development of a new acoustic communication technology for ballast water exchange compliance

The rapid spread of various Aquatic Nuisance Species (ANS) via ballast water is making ballast water management (BWM) a serious issue for the maritime countries around the world. The spread of ANS threatens local eco systems and impacts the local economics. There are different ways to treat the ballast water but the mid-ocean ballast water exchange (BWE) remains the most practiced and accepted among the various stakeholders of the maritime commerce. Recent legislations to make this voluntary practice compulsory has provided the impetus to develop a tamperproof monitoring system. Based on the acoustic communication technology through metal hulls, this paper describes the development effort for such an automated system. The paper provides a background to the 'through-the-hull' acoustic communication technology, describes the reason for its application to BWE monitoring and presents the preliminary results aimed at improving the communication. The direction for the future research towards developing a prototype system is drawn in conclusion.