**1. Introduction**

The term "Ballast Water Utopia" is not the author of this paper coined phrase but a term stated by William Burroughs of Freedom Ballast, a company that provides an innovative solution of ballast water treatment as a barge or portside service [1]. The strong language suggested by the term "Ballast Water Utopia" by the company's CEO inspired the discussion of cutting-edge innovations in ballast water management in this paper. To begin with, this paper's use of the word utopia attests to the commitment that certain innovators have in matters related to environmental protection especially in the marine world by focusing on ideas supported by technology that could potentially lead to the most ideal situations in dealing with invasive aquatic species (AIS) in shipping technologies for ballast water management. The International Maritime Organization (IMO) [2], dedicated over a decade of momentous efforts to react to the mission to control, prevent and close the door to aquatic invasive species that were or would be introduced by ships to foreign waters through ballast water tanks.

When empty, ships need to be ballasted (balanced) with water however that water needs to be thrown overboard when cargoes are taken aboard the ship and this is where invasive species and sediments (which may be teeming with organisms) from different parts of the world may find their way to a new world where they do not have natural predators and thus are able to grow into dangerous and environmentally threatening levels, at least that is how it would be if no care is taken whatsoever to treat foreign water containing invasive species [3].

The dangers of AIS from ballast water tanks are well documented [4] having the potential of destroying entire ecosystems, entire fishing industries, and various environments [5]. Some of the most infamous invasions include the zebra mussel, which costs millions of dollars in clean-up operations in the Great Lakes of the United States. This mussel is native to the Black Sea, the Caspian Sea, and waters just south of Russia and Ukraine [6]. Further examples of notorious marine bio-invasions include the green crab, the Cladoceran Water Flea, certain jellyfish, the lionfish, etc. In a post-Covid lock-downs world, with the exception of certain areas around the world that still hold on to lock-downs, humanity, in general, in 2022 is even more aware of the dangers of uncontrollable organisms working against the life spans and the quality of life of human beings. This means that there will always stand a moral obligation to respond expeditiously to environmental threats so that commercial activity does not hinder and destroy human being, their livelihoods, and the environment.

The ocean is constantly under monitoring through various scientific undertakings around the world. Scientists warn us through data-supported, intense research that the ocean faces many environmental challenges and these are studied under varied branches of study, to name a few examples, the ocean has environmental challenges with, coral bleaching [7], marine neurotoxins termed the red tides [8], noise pollution from ships [9], concerns about the devastations that can arise from the melting permafrost, particularly in the Arctic region [10] which would be devastating to communities in that environment and the globe, not to mention all the pollution from microplastics and other effluents. In this paper, we are just focusing on the ballast water management field but this must be read within the context of other environmental challenges that scientists are looking at. This is why we cannot afford to lose scientific minds in environmental threat management. Since this paper is concerned with ballast water management, it is important to consider the ballast water simulations [11] in regions that are changing as a result of global warming such as the Arctic.

When international rules for ballast water management were initially drafted, technologies to enforce such rules needed to be brought up to date with the demands of the rules. The rules were eventually adopted and came into force in the form of the International Convention for the Control and Management of Ships' Ballast Water and Sediments (the Ballast Water Management Convention, 2004), also known as the BWM Convention, 2004 [12]. On 8 September 2017, this law came into force, with approved systems finally being available in the ship technology market. These approved systems are available and listed with the IMO and several port authorities around the world [13].

In this paper, there will be a consideration of some of the newer methods such as barge and port side ballast water treatment, as part of a survey of the latest developments in ship techs for ballast water management, there will also be a selective consideration of the effectiveness of a few sample ballast water management systems, as it would be impossible to discuss them all in this paper. Further, with the Arctic opening up more as a result of global warming and better ships and legal codes are developed to traverse that environment, naturally, concerns about ballast water management

also increase in that region. It will therefore be appropriate in this paper to also briefly consider what the loss of Russian scientists may mean for Arctic research and environmental protection endeavors as a result of the war between Russia and Ukraine. Further, a consideration of other bodies of water in relation to ballast water such as the Mediterranean Sea and Antarctica will also be considered as examples of how ballast water management has affected those areas.
