The United States Coast Guard (USCG) provides a list limiting conditions for the use of a ballast water management system under specific conditions during operation on a vessel. These limitations are referenced in type approval certificates.
The process for evaluating and assessing operational limitations includes the following general steps:
– The manufacturer identifies relevant limiting conditions or parameters in the required “technical data package” submitted to the Independent Lab (IL);
– In coordination with the BWMS manufacturer, the IL reviews, assesses, and as appropriate, identifies additional or missing limitations critical to the operation of the BWMS;
– Based on the manufacturer-supplied BWMS documentation, the IL develops comprehensive test plans for ship-board, land-based, and component testing;
– At the completion of the testing, the IL provides the Coast Guard with a “Test Report” as part of the manufacturer’s type approval application;
– The Coast Guard accepts the IL statement of assessment as part of an approved application and issues a type approval certificate that reflects the manufacturer-identified operating limits.
Click here to see a downloadable comparison chart of the operational limitations for all the USCG type approved ballast water management systems.
