Our ocean-going tankers have undertaken various activities in accordance with the Ballast Water Management Convention (International Convention for the Control and Management of Ships' Ballast Water and Sediments), which came into effect on September 8, 2017, and guidelines of the IMO (International Maritime Organization) to prevent the ecosystem destruction induced by foreign species. Ballast water is water (seawater) used as weight for ship stabilization. The convention mandates the installation of ballast treatment systems within a certain timeframe. In line with this rule, tankers (VLCC) managed by Idemitsu Tanker are being installed with said systems. As of January 31, 2020, we finished installing electrolytic or filter/disinfectant treatment systems on APOLLO DREAM and APOLLO ENERGY.

To prevent disturbance of local ecosystem at ports of call, we use ballast water treatment systems to eliminate the harmful aquatic life and pathogens in ballast water. Or during transit our ocean-going tankers replace the seawater they take in as ballast water when leaving port with water from the open ocean, which has little impact on local ecosystems.