Laboratory of Ecophysiology and Bioenergetics, Department of Marine Ecology, Faculty of Oceanography and Geography, University of Gdańsk, Gdynia, Poland.
Biofouling. 2024 Mar-Apr;40(3-4):280-289. doi: 10.1080/08927014.2024.2353025. Epub 2024 May 14.
Despite the Baltic Sea being one of the most intensive shipping regions in the world the potential magnitude of the biofouled hulls in this region is unknown. This study estimated the biofouling load to Baltic Sea Region (BSR) based on the wetted surface area (WSA) method with regard to country, ship type and donor bioregion. WSA flux reached 656 km, of which 86% was associated with ships operating inside and 14% was WSA flux brought by ships from outside of the Baltic Sea. Most of the WSA was transported to Swedish, Finnish and Danish ports as well. The highest WSA flux was assigned to roll-on/roll-off, passenger and general cargo ships. The high biofouling potential in BSR indicates a potential high risk to the environment and, therefore there is an urgent need for appropriate guidelines to be introduced into daily use by the commercial shipping community.
尽管波罗的海是世界上航运最繁忙的海域之一，但该地区生物污垢船体的潜在规模尚不清楚。本研究根据湿表面积（WSA）方法，针对国家、船型和供体生物区系，估算了波罗的海区域（BSR）的生物污垢负荷。WSA 通量达到 656 公里，其中 86%与在波罗的海内部作业的船舶有关，14%是由波罗的海以外的船舶带来的 WSA 通量。大部分 WSA 也被运往瑞典、芬兰和丹麦港口。WSA 通量最高的是滚装/滚卸船、客船和杂货船。BSR 具有很高的生物污垢潜力，这表明对环境存在很高的风险，因此迫切需要为商业航运界引入适当的指南，以便在日常使用中采用。
