Alfa Laval releases commissioning sampling white paper

Put simply, a requirement for water sampling to be conducted in connection with commissioning testing of ballast water treatment system (BWTS) is being introduced for newly installed ballast water treatment systems. The IMO requirement was laid out at MEPC 74 in an amendment to the International Convention for the Control and Management of Ships’ Ballast Water and Sediments (BWM Convention), and is expected to enter effect globally from early 2022.

A few flag states have followed IMO advice and have introduced the requirement voluntarily, including Australia, the Bahamas, Cyprus, Panama and Singapore. However, there remains considerable uncertainty in the market about what commissioning testing involves.

As commissioning sampling forms part of the wider commissioning testing conducted aboard a new vessel, the sampling and the testing as a whole are overseen by the flag state or by a classification society authorized by the flag state.

Commissioning sampling is intended to meet ship owners’ requirements for proof that BWTS will perform according to type approval and meet the IMO D-2 discharge standard. Commissioning sampling verifies that the specific installed system replicates the performance defined in an individual BWTS’s type approval.

Alfa Laval’s white paper is available for download here.