Microbial disinfection of seawater using hydrodynamic cavitation

•Application of hydrodynamic cavitation for ballast water treatment has been studied.•Different cavitating devices and their effectiveness in terms of disinfection and energy utilization was studied.•Cavitation treatment can be effectively used as, “onboard ballast water treatment technology”.•Hydrodynamic cavitation can be effectively used onboard with minimum maintenance and crew requirement.