IMO reports have shown a need for regular testing of ballast water to ensure compliance with the IMO’ Ballast Water Performance Standard. However, the current standard of detailed ballast water testing, manual microscopy, is costly and risks causing delays, so a portable compliance monitoring device (CMD) is an important tool moving forward.
One challenge faced by authorities and BWMS commissioning service providers alike is the uncertainty regarding which CMDs can be used. In 2023, the IMO published a protocol for the validation of CMDs (BWM.2/Circ.78.). Using this protocol, the BallastWISE CMD has recently been successfully validated – as the first to be validated to our knowledge. In the validation, BallastWISE is concluded to provide results comparable to manual microscopy.
“BallastWISE greatly lowers the time and cost associated with ballast water testing compared to manual microscopy in labs, as it is a portable test instrument which can by used by anyone. This makes testing easily accessible to port state control authorities and commissioning test service providers who need it – when they need it.” Pia Haecky, CEO of MicroWISE.
The validation results are based on hundreds of tests performed by accredited laboratories (DHI, Denmark and Control Union, Holland) following IMO and ISO protocols. The data analysis by European Technical Assessment (ETA-Denmark) concluded that BallastWISE provides results comparable to manual microscopy. The verification was based on the test protocol described in the IMO document BWM.2/Circ.78 and with references to ISO 3725:2023. Currently BallastWISE is the only CMD on IMO’s List of Verified Compliance Monitoring Devices (CMDs).
At the 83rd session of the IMO’s Marine Environment Protection Committee Denmark submitted an information note describing the validation of BallastWISE, to ensure awareness of the technologies available when making decisions regarding the future of ballast water management regulations.
The validation of BallastWISE was generously supported by the Danish Ministry of Environment though the MUDP programme.
We hope this helps you. Have any questions? Feel free to reach out.
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