Ballast Water Testing for VGP & IMO Compliance
The situation
A tanker owner, operating primarily in non-ley ports, required ballast water testing to be done in southern Argentina. Their current water testing supplier, despite being a global organisation, did not have any available personnel and a surveyor had to be flown in to attend the vessel and take the sample.
The task
Due to high demand of the service, a surveyor was not readily available and when he finally arrived to Argentina the vessel had already departed. Not only did the owner have to cover the travelling time and costs, but at the following port of call, in Corpus Christi, the vessel was boarded by the USCG and arrested for non-compliance with VGP, mandating ballast water samples to be tested every six months.
The action
Thanks to an unrivalled global network, SeaTec was visiting the operations office of the owner on the first day of the arrest, so we offered to help. Given our flexible service based on self-sampling, we dispatched one of our SeaTec kits to the vessel, where the crew was able to take samples and land them on the same day the kit was received. Thanks to our well-established cooperation with DHL, the samples were flown out to Europe on the first flight and received at our laboratory two days after.
The result
Although there is a long incubation period required for legionella, lasting up to 10 days, our lab has developed a proprietary rapid method to test for legionella within 24 hours. The results were submitted as soon as they were available and reviewed by the USCG, which deemed them satisfactory and released the vessel. Thanks to the support provided and the ease of use, SeaTec now supports their whole fleet of 100+ vessels. Together, we work as a strategic partner to ensure compliance and keep the vessels in the market. This is especially important at a time of high tanker demand, where any day lost can dramatically impact an owners’ financial position.
Results & impact
Reduction in cost by self-sampling – 50%
Fine avoided – $60K
Download PDF: Case study – BWTS Argentina