Ballast water observations and ports data

This dataset includes the data used in in the HELCOM/OSPAR Ballast Water Exemptions Decision Support Tool. This tool was developed in 2013 based on the overall IMO framework, the 21 Baltic and North-East Atlantic coastal states and the EU. It allows user to define “low risk” routes, as well as other necessary steps in granting exemptions under regulation A-4 of the IMO Ballast Water Management Convention (BWMC). The data were collected in various European ports and includes not only biodiversity data but also hydrographic, sediment and meteorological measurements in the sampling sites.