Creatures such as the Chinese mitten crab, which is on the rise in the Thames and other English rivers, have been able to establish themselves in new habitats after being transported from their natural homes in ballast water.
Around 7,000 marine and coastal species travel across the world's oceans every day, a report for conservation charity WWF said.
Some of them become invasive in new sites, breeding prolifically by "escaping" the predators or diseases which would normally keep their numbers under control, competing with local species, disrupting food chains or damaging habitats.
The report estimated that in the last five years, invasive species have cost marine and coastal activities including fisheries, aquaculture, industrial infrastructure and harbours some £31 billion worldwide.
According to the study for WWF, last year 84pc of the world's marine regions had reported findings of invasive species, with shipping a major reason for their spread.
The conservation charity urged countries to adopt an international treaty which would bring in measures for ballast water - used to stabilise ships and ensure efficient fuel use - to tackle the problem.
Not enough countries have ratified the Ballast Water Convention, established in 2004, to bring it into force, with only one of the top shipping states - Liberia - doing so.
As a result, the number of damaging species spreading into new areas is continuing to rise.
Invasive species include Chinese mitten crabs, whose name comes from their large claws which are covered in bristles resembling mittens, which originate in the Far East but have spread to other parts of the world in the ballast of ships.
The crab has colonised the Thames and is establishing itself in other rivers around England, where it can burrow into and destroy fragile riverbanks, prey on other species and compete with native animals such as crayfish.
The North American comb jellyfish which helped to virtually wipe out anchovy and sprat stocks in the Black Sea in the late 1980s, is now expanding into the Caspian Sea, the North Sea and the Baltic Sea.
The red mysid shrimp has spread from the Black and Caspian Seas into the North Sea, including Belgium, France, England and Ireland and across to the US - with fears its wide diet is likely to damage ecosystems, while the "red tide" microalgae has also spread through ballast water.
The Indo-Pacific poisonous lionfish originally turned up in the Atlantic after being released from aquariums but larvae and young could spread further in ballast water, which can also contain a number of bacteria and diseases including cholera.
Ahead of a meeting of the International Maritime Organisation in London this week, WWF called on nations under whose flags most ships operate to ratify the convention.
Dr Anita Makinen, WWF's head of delegation to the meeting, said: "The IMO Ballast Water Convention provides the set of agreed practices and standards for effective control of ballast water internationally, minimising the spread of marine invasive organisms while imposing minimal costs upon shipping and trade."
Implementing the convention would, she said, "effectively halt marine pest invasions from ballast water - in the long run saving taxpayers' money by avoiding clean ups of affected ecosystems, industry and infrastructure".
The report estimated that in the last five years, invasive species have cost marine and coastal activities including fisheries, aquaculture, industrial infrastructure and harbours some £31 billion worldwide.
According to the study for WWF, last year 84pc of the world's marine regions had reported findings of invasive species, with shipping a major reason for their spread.
The conservation charity urged countries to adopt an international treaty which would bring in measures for ballast water - used to stabilise ships and ensure efficient fuel use - to tackle the problem.
Not enough countries have ratified the Ballast Water Convention, established in 2004, to bring it into force, with only one of the top shipping states - Liberia - doing so.
As a result, the number of damaging species spreading into new areas is continuing to rise.
Invasive species include Chinese mitten crabs, whose name comes from their large claws which are covered in bristles resembling mittens, which originate in the Far East but have spread to other parts of the world in the ballast of ships.
The crab has colonised the Thames and is establishing itself in other rivers around England, where it can burrow into and destroy fragile riverbanks, prey on other species and compete with native animals such as crayfish.
The North American comb jellyfish which helped to virtually wipe out anchovy and sprat stocks in the Black Sea in the late 1980s, is now expanding into the Caspian Sea, the North Sea and the Baltic Sea.
The red mysid shrimp has spread from the Black and Caspian Seas into the North Sea, including Belgium, France, England and Ireland and across to the US - with fears its wide diet is likely to damage ecosystems, while the "red tide" microalgae has also spread through ballast water.
The Indo-Pacific poisonous lionfish originally turned up in the Atlantic after being released from aquariums but larvae and young could spread further in ballast water, which can also contain a number of bacteria and diseases including cholera.
Ahead of a meeting of the International Maritime Organisation in London this week, WWF called on nations under whose flags most ships operate to ratify the convention.
Dr Anita Makinen, WWF's head of delegation to the meeting, said: "The IMO Ballast Water Convention provides the set of agreed practices and standards for effective control of ballast water internationally, minimising the spread of marine invasive organisms while imposing minimal costs upon shipping and trade."
Implementing the convention would, she said, "effectively halt marine pest invasions from ballast water - in the long run saving taxpayers' money by avoiding clean ups of affected ecosystems, industry and infrastructure".
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