Singapore Maritime and Port Authority selects test kits for ballast water testing

French water microbiology expert aqua-tools has won a tender to supply Singapore’s Maritime and Port Authority (MPA) with its B-QUA ballast water test kits.

A public tender was issued in March inviting several companies to quote for supplying a number of kits to the MPA for use by both port and flag state control authorities.

Carine Magdo, aqua-tools’ Business Development Manager, said: “We are delighted to be able to support the MPA in its initiative to consider implementing a ballast water testing regime. Our user-friendly, portable and, above all, effective B-QUA test kits will give MPA users the tools to carry out rapid, indicative analysis of ballast water in line with the requirements of the convention.”

Five B-QUA ballast water monitoring solutions and test kits will be supplied by Singapore headquartered Atlas Marine Services (AMS), which manages B-QUA sales and distribution across the Southeast Asia region. AMS was instrumental in securing the order.

AMS, CEO, Stephen Herron said: “aqua-tools’ B-QUA was selected because it met all the MPA’s requirements. It is capable of testing for all three size classes of viable organisms, including bacteria; it complies with the indicative analysis methods stipulated in the BWMC; it provides traceable measurement results within a time frame compatible with port operations; and gives stakeholders the information they need to correctly evaluate the efficiency of ballast water treatment systems.”

Another criterion aqua-tools met was that the method needed to deliver confidence that the results demonstrated a scientific correlation between the indicative method and detailed analysis, both in the lab and in the field.

Herron added: “The Singapore MPA leads the world in implementing and enforcing measures that enhance maritime safety and curtail the effect of maritime operations on the marine environment. It was the first Port Authority to mandate mass flow metering for bunkering operations and could now lead the world in ballast water testing.”

AMS, in cooperation with aqua-tools, will provide training to MPA personnel on how use the test kits. Training will be in two stages, starting in June 2018.

Singapore, the world’s second largest container port, with more 130,000 vessels calling the port each year, is also the world’s largest bunkering hub, registering more than 50mt in annual bunker sales.

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