USA: Chelsea’s Experts to Discuss Ballast Water Treatment with International Colleagues

Chelsea’s Richard Burt and Veronica Chan will be attending the Alliance for Coastal Technologies / Maritime Environmental Research Center workshop on Fluorometry for Ballast Water Compliance Monitoring Workshop, 14 & 15 June 2012 at the SESYNC Center, Annapolis, USA.

The introduction of invasive marine species into new environments by ships’ ballast water is one of the great threats to the diversity of the world’s oceans. The International Maritime Organization Ballast Water Convention is expected to be ratified soon and a number of ballast water treatment systems are being developed. Treatment systems must be effective under a wide range of environmental conditions. The workshop will discuss the use of fluorescence based assays and instruments from compliance monitoring of ballast water discharge regulations.

“We are currently evolving our FastOcean system as a rapid in situ test for gross non-compliance for use by the Port State Control and Coast Guard” said Richard Burt, Chelsea’s Marketing Director, “It is also suitable for direct installation to ballast water treatment systems as a performance monitor”.

Veronica Chan, Chelsea’s expert on active fluorescence will be presenting recent results from the FastOcean system and its application to the bulk estimation of viable phytoplankton’s biomass within treated ballast water.

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Source: Chelsea, June 13, 2012