SGS Group opts for Aqua-tools ballast water test kits
Geneva, Switzerland, headquartered inspection, verification, testing and certification specialist SGS Group has taken delivery of the first of 30 Rapid ATP Ballast Water Monitoring Systems from Poissy, France, based Aqua-tools.
SGS Group has agreements in place with several countries to inspect and monitor the treated ballast waters of vessels entering their ports. The 30 Rapid ATP ballast water test kits will be distributed to SGS Group offices in all those countries by which it has been contracted to carry out ballast water verification tests. Its latest such agreement is with Saudi Arabia where vessels discharging ballast water in Saudi Aramco ports have been required to present a ballast water report and sample since August 16, 2017.
"With the entry into force of the Ballast Water Management Convention next month, ballast water monitoring will become an important aspect of the port state control function, as inspectors test treated water for compliance," says Dr. Vladimiro Bonamin, Vice-President, Global Business Development Manager, SGS Groups. "Aqua-tools, in collaboration with SGS Group (Switzerland) and LuminUltra (Canada), has developed a Rapid ATP technology designed to be the most reliable and effective ballast water monitoring solution on the market."
According to Dr. Bonamin, existing bioluminescence methodologies used to monitor Adenosine Tri-phosphates (ATP), a molecular structure, like DNA, that is found in all living organisms, "are ineffective in high salinity waters and while an accepted method for testing surface waters, these rudimentary solutions do not provide a reliable tool with which to test the efficacy of ballast water treatment systems."
Aqua-tools' ATP 2G technology can be used onboard vessels and by enforcement agencies to rapidly analyzse treated waters onboard vessel during the deballasting process, providing results in less than 40 minutes.
SGS Group now has agreements in place to implement ballast water compliance verification tests and certification in seven countries, with the service available in the U.S, Canada, South Africa, Germany, Italy, Spain, Belgium, the Netherlands, Finland, UAE, India, China, South Korea, Australia, Thailand and Taiwan.
