Ballast tanks are compartments on a vessel that hold sea water in order to balance the ship and ensure its stability. Older vessels used to use stone or iron to provide balance, however this has now been replaced by seawater as it can more easily be adjusted and is readily available. Ballast pumps are designed to efficiently transfer vast amounts of sea water into the marine vessels’ ballast tanks or to empty if necessary i.e. when entering more shallow waters.
As our range of ballast tank pumps reflect, they are often vertical centrifugal pumps due to their ability to handle water efficiently whilst being of a space saving design. They are available with electric or air priming pumps to give them the suction to completely strip a tank when required. Our boat ballast pump offering covers a range of performance capabilities for meeting the ballast pumping system requirements of any size vessel.
The Ballast Water Management Convention has highlighted environmental concerns with the sea water being used containing marine species and bacteria and then being emptied out into seas outside of their native home. Ballast pumping systems are going to have to be adapted to consider the treatment of ballast water and remove any unwanted organisms. This is likely to see vessel owners needing to update their ballast tank pumps over the next couple of years.