Vessels sailing on the United States of America have to comply with the regulations for the 2013 Vessel General Permit (VGP). This will be replaced by the Vessel Incidental Discharge Act (VIDA) in the near future. MEA-nl can conduct analyses on your ballast water, grey water, bilge water and scrubber wash water in the Le Havre – Hamburg range.
Prior to use on board, all ballast water management systems (BWMS) have to be commissioned on behalf of the flag administration. Often this task is performed by the classification society. For most classification societies, we can take the samples and conduct the analyses as required in the range Le Havre – Hamburg.
As from 2009 onwards, staff of MEA-nl has been involved in Type Approval testing of Ballast Water Management Systems (BWMS). We conduct both, land-based and shipboard tests. Initially in accordance with the IMO Guidelines only, later also in accordance with the ETV Guidelines as developed by the United States of America. Thereto, we have worked with many national administrations and the US Coast Guard. We can also an can also prepare your Basic and Final Approval dossier for submission to IMO / GESAMP. Further information can be found on Ballast water Type Approval tests.
Many years of Ballast Water Type Approval (TA) Testing are behind us, and are on-going. The global challenge is to install Type Approved ballast water treatment systems (BWTS) on-board of the approximately 50,000 merchant ships sailing world-wide. An even greater challenge is to ensure that these systems perform adequately in real life. This is the area of Ship Compliance testing.
Water treatment installations often start with a bright idea. The silver bullet for all types of water is still not there. In our workshop and lab, we can conduct in mutual consultation bench-scale tests on components and complete installations, including filtration techniques. This enables you to convince yourself that every step has the desired effect. Finally, full-scale tests can be conducted on board our Floating Test Facility.