Abstract

Managing Maritime Transport Ballast With GIS
Track: Transportation
Authors: Sean Fitzpatrick

Maritime transportation represents one of the fundamental cornerstones of civilization as it provides for the movement of products and materials across the globe, which has become even more significant given the globalized supply chain networks that are growing rapidly. The increase in utilization of maritime transport technology has resulted in an increase in associated efficiency and environmental issues. This paper will examine the application of GIS technology and its unique ability to display, analyze, classify, and even predict levels of ballast activity in the ocean water and examine how geospatial technologies such as ArcGIS Spatial Analyst and LIDAR can be effectively applied to these problems. The paper will take into account vessel characteristics and the use of GIS both onboard and in port to quantify ballast composition and levels, their effect on efficiency, examine real time data sources, and demonstrate the benefits of GIS analysis to effectively manage ballasting.