Test facilities for ballast water treatment systems.

The Norwegian Institute for Water Research (NIVA) is an internationally oriented competence centre for water-related research, innovation and development activities on environment and resources. NIVA provides advisory and R&D services on water-related issues at national and international levels to authorities, the private sector and the public. NIVA is a private research foundation, and is the largest interdisciplinary applied water research centre in Norway. NIVA has a total staff of 250 and an annual turnover of over EUR 33 million.

BallastTech-NIVA AS – Type Approval Testing of Ballast Water Management Systems
All Ballast Water Management Systems onboard vessels are required to have a type approval certificate. BallastTech-NIVA AS is a pioneer in the field, and offers services for testing Ballast Water Management Systems.
The services include:
• Full scale, land-based testing in compliance with IMO guidelines G8 and G9 with Type Approval certification by several national administrations
• Shipboard testing in compliance with IMO guidelines
• Small scale and pilot scale testing for IMO G9 basic approval applications
• Verification of system performance in laboratory, pilot and full scale
• Extensive experience, expertise and highly qualified staff
• Comprehensive generic Quality Management Plan (QMP) and Quality Assurance Project Plan (QAPP) conforming to IMO requirements

Several vendors have received Final Approval and Type Approval of their Ballast Water Management Systems based on tests with BallastTech-NIVA AS.

Ferrybox – From Research Project to Shipowner Benefits
Ferrybox started as European Union project FerryBox, aimed at showing that ship-borne instrumentation can deliver in a cost-efficient way information of immediate scientific value and help to solve environmental problems. The Ferrybox equipment consists of a fully automated flow-through system with sensors and automatic analysers for the measurement of physical, biological and chemical parameters, using ferries and other ships as the carrier system. The data from this is used to monitor and predict, for example water quality and algae issues in the ocean. Shipowners can install Ferrybox in order to help monitor water quality and assist authorities in predicting coastal environmental developments. The Ferrybox system has several advantages, including:
• Cost-effective monitoring of seawater quality
• Efficient remote sampling for additional analysis
• Real-time data availability
• Low maintenance requirements compared to other solutions
• Combination with satellite data enables surveillance of larger regions

Ferrybox instrumentation onboard a ship.	Ferrybox lines in Norwegian waters, red NIVA lines, blue collaborating lines.