Biosafety of marine vessels: current trends and prospects.

Background: The global aggravation of the political situation in the world against the background of catastrophic changes in the Earth's ecology is inexorably growing. Despite the fact that most ships are equipped with Waste Water Treatment Plants (WWTP), pollution of the World Ocean remains a serious problem. One of the main reasons contributing to the pollution of the sea by ships is the lack of the ship's environmental protection equipment necessary for the work. Thus, the adoption of measures to prevent the discharge of raw sewage from ships and improve the quality of their treatment is of paramount importance.

Materials and methods: The data of comprehensive surveys of ship WWTP operation in the ports of Ukraine for 2009-2010 are analysed - the most intensive period of navigation in the last 20 years. To assess the quality of wastewater treatment, samples were taken for laboratory studies in accordance with the requirements of the "State Sanitary Rules and Norms for Discharge of Waste, Oily, Ballast Water and Garbage from Ships into Water Bodies", No. 199, 09/07/1997.

Results: The results of laboratory studies of wastewater after treatment on shipboard WWTP, conducted in the Black Sea ports of Ukraine in 2009-2010, show the unsatisfactory quality of their treatment according to the main regulated national and international indicators.

Conclusions: Taking into account the results of surveys of foreign ships conducted in 2009-2010, the studied literature, we consider our study worthy of serious reflection in order to understand the current situation on ships equipped with WWTP installations, determine priority areas for ensuring their efficient operation and preventing pollution of water bodies by untreated waste carrying the threat of contamination of residents of coastal areas with pathogens of dangerous infectious diseases transmitted by water, toxic substances that are detrimental to the flora and fauna of the oceans.