You might well ask, what is the connection between ocean racing and manufacturing Volvos? Both are all about going the distance under any conditions Mother Nature wants to throw at you. Longevity. Durability. Performance. Survival. Still, what is the connection between ocean racing and environmental sustainability? This particular connection is a bit more complicated, but just as meaningful!

At 37,000 miles, the Volvo Ocean Race is the longest ever. Traveling across five oceans, four continents and through 11 ports around the world, the Volvo teams are competing in one of the ultimate tests of human endurance. It’s a race, a human challenge as old as the human race. This time around, however, all the teams are sure of a place in the history books due to an environmental research project they’ll be leaving behind them as a legacy. All entries in this year’s Volvo Ocean Race are taking part in research. The project wants to see how the oceans and the life they support have been impacted by ships taking on and discharging ballast water.

Fifty years ago, before the post-World War II shipping boom, ships carried almost anything and would trade on routes that saw them carrying cargo on both the outward and return legs. These days, massive crude oil or dry bulk cargo carriers are dispatched to a destination carrying a specific amount of a single product; oil to the U.S. and Japan for example, or iron ore to China. Once they have discharged their cargos, these ships take on huge amounts of water as ballast to stabilize them on their empty journey to the next loading port where they will discharge the ballast water and take on new cargo. The problem with this multicultural mix of water is simple: ballasting transports marine life, as well as water from one port to another. Species found in the coastal waters of the South China Sea or the Gulf of Mexico is totally alien from those of the Arabian Gulf or West Africa; mixing them can cause a total upheaval of the natural balance of the environment.

In the USA, the European Zebra Mussel has infested over 40 percent of internal waterways, requiring a billion dollar effort to control them. In southern Australia, Asian kelp is displacing the native seabed communities while in the Black Sea, a jellyfish is believed to have caused serious harm to fishermen because of the plankton it has devoured.

With an ever-expanding ocean shipping business that not only moves more than 90 percent of the world’s commodities, but transfers internationally an estimated three to five billion tons of ballast water each year, the problem is an ecological, economic and health threat.

The Wallenius Wilhelmsen Logistics (WWL) project recognized that the Volvo Ocean Race route would provide a rare opportunity to analyze the biology of open water not on the regular shipping routes and to identify the type of microorganisms transported in ballast water. Agreeing the opportunity was unique and useful, the Volvo Ocean Race and WWL teamed up to help with the research, to create awareness of the problem and to convince seaport nations to fund technical solutions.

During the race, a dedicated media crewmember on board each racing yacht will have the task of taking water samples and identifying organisms in the sample. The compiled data will help define the scale of the impact ballasting is having on the world’s oceans.

WWL initiated its first ballast water project in 2003, an effort that helped create PureBallast, a chemical-free solution that uses advanced oxidation technology to eliminate organisms present in ballast water. After encouraging sea trials, PureBallast has become one of the treatment methods approved by the International Maritime Organization (IMO), the United Nations marine body.

Better research and solutions will also help WWL to push ballasting legislation. Treading through treacherous waters, the crew of this Volvo Ocean Race will help WWL make progress toward its ultimate goal - preventing marine intruders from changing the face of our oceans while preserving marine life.

There’s nothing like a good slogan to promote attention and recognition for a program like the WWL ship ballast study. Hey! How about, “Volvo For Life?” Catchy, isn’t it?