First Asian Class Society Ballast Water Lab Named

Korean Register has become the first Asian class society to gain U.S. Coast Guard authorization to perform ballast water treatment system testing as an Independent Laboratory (IL).

The organization can now undertake tests, inspections and evaluations of treatment systems to type approve them in accordance with the U.S. Code of Federal Regulation. The society is the first in Asia and the third group in the world to gain this authorization. The other two authorized ILs are NSF International in the U.S. and DNV GL.

The move has surprised some in the industry, and it is anticipated that this will speed up the number of systems gaining U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) approval. As well as the 2004 IMO Ballast Water Management Convention requirements, treatment system manufacturers wishing to have their systems used in U.S. waters must gain USCG type approval which involves a stricter testing regime than that specified by IMO.

“This is indeed a surprising development,” says ballast water management consultant Jad Mouawad. “The USCG seems to have realized that there is a bottle neck in the testing capacity of IL, and so they have approved recently two new sub-contractors to DNV GL (DHI Singapore and NIVA Norway) and now Korean Register with KOMERI as a testing facility.

“I know of at least one more applicant coming up which will hopefully increase the capacity for USCG type approval and at the same time keep the quality of testing at a high level. The first attempt by Koreans to establish an IL for USCG type approval was through KORDI, the governmental body doing type approval testing. This setup had to be rejected due to the inability of the USCG to perform real audits on a governmental body of South Korea. It seems now that Korean Register and Komeri (the second private testing body in South Korea) have joined together and received the approval from the USCG. This is an important step and it will be interesting to see how the first applications for USCG type approval from those institutes will be handled by the USCG.”

“The South Korean government, Korean Register and Korean manufacturers of ballast water management systems (most directly sponsored or at least indirectly supported by Hyundai, Hanjin and Samsung) have all recognized that the associated testing is a key component and valuable adjunct to Korea's shipbuilding and ship-oriented economy,” says Dr Rob Hilliard, invasive species specialist and principal at Intermarine Consulting.

Busan-based Techcross (closely associated with Hanjin Heavy) has been one of the front-runners (its ElectroCleen system was the third system to receive IMO type approval), says Hilliard. “South Korea was also among the first group of countries to introduce national ballast water management legislation and regulations in readiness for implementing the IMO Convention.”