Nairobi — Seychelles has set aside part of its territorial waters where visiting ships should exchange their ballast water before calling at Port Victoria.

This comes after scientists found three new marine invasive species. The measure is meant to protect the archipelago from alien organisms that can cause large economic losses annually.

"We have earmarked an area that is 80 miles from Port Victoria where the ships should stop, discharge their ballast water and take on fresh supplies," Captain Wilton Ernesta who heads the Seychelles Maritime Safety Administration said.

They will be able to check both manual and automatic recordings on incoming ships to verify if the ballast water pumps on board have been used as expected.

"The zone has been marked on hard and electronic copies of charts being given to ships," Ernesta said.

However, he admitted that the laws stipulating penalties for those who violate the requirement are being drafted.

Ballast water is used to stabilise ships and is pumped into special containers on ships after cargo is offloaded. The invasive marine species that may be in the water compete for environment with the normal flora. They often destabilise life at the sea.

The problem is particularly important in the Indian Ocean where 98 per cent of corals have died due to high sea temperatures, leaving a biological vacuum that invading species could easily fill up.

Last week the MSA said that studies had revealed the presence of three bryozoans species that are "not historically known to have been found in this part of the world."

"Recently we heard of the zebra mussel, which has now colonised most parts of the US, and costing more than $20 million a year in economic losses," Captain Ernesta said.

Seychelles is carrying out a study to investigate the presence of these invasive species in its waters with the technical support of the World Conservation Union (IUCN) in a 179,000 Euros project financed by oil conglomerate, TOTAL.

IUCN specialist, Dr Ameer Abdullah, nevertheless said that Seychelles may not be overwhelmingly affected by invasive marine species because it is more of an importing, rather than an exporting nation, which means that ships arrive in the country laden with goods and take on ballast water there rather than discharge after unloading cargo, as they would if they were taking on goods.