Hyde Marine today announced it will begin using a new ballast water test system, B-box, recently made available from the Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research (NIOZ) to help ballast water treatment (BWT) technology companies conduct accurate analysis regarding the concentrations of chemicals or organisms present in ballast water.
The B-box testing service was designed by NIOZ to help BWT companies and shipowners test BWT system operation and the physical and chemical variables that may be present in the ships’ ballast water.
NIOZ extensively tested the B-box system with Hyde Marine over the past two years to determine its efficacy for maritime use, and to further test the real-world performance of the Hyde GUARDIAN Gold™ BWT system, which uses efficient filtration and ultraviolet disinfection to treat ships’ ballast water to prevent the spread of invasive species from port to port.
B-box is a "ballast water sampling box," which contains sample bottles that can be filled with treated ballast water, mixed with provided test chemicals, and sent to NIOZ for validation. NIOZ professionals will perform a number of tests on physical-chemical variables and concentrations of organisms as requested by Hyde Marine and provide analysis regarding what chemicals and organisms are present in the water. Additionally, Hyde Marine-trained service personnel can be used to take the samples and prepare them for shipment.
Hyde Marine president John Platz said: "Using the B-box system is an efficient and effective service, and will allow shipowners to receive an analysis of their ballast water samples quickly and accurately.
"We expect the NIOZ testing will further validate the high performance of our Hyde GUARDIAN Gold ballast water treatment system and help educate shipowners about the important investment they made in complying with IMO regulations."
According to Dr. Louis Peperzak, NIOZ Project Leader at the Ballast Water Test Facility and Research Center, B-box will help to establish confidence among vendors, ship owners and port state control.
Dr Peperzak said: "The B-box does not replace shipboard tests or guarantee compliance, but lowers the risk of non-compliance and contributes to an anonymous database of water quality and ballast water treatment system performance in harbors around the world."