TOKYO, Japan headquartered Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd. (MOL) on May 8th announced that the "Ballast Catch" = Viable Organism Sampler will begin marketing on May 15. The device, jointly developed by MOL Group company MOL Engineering Co., Ltd. (President: Shuji Miyai; Headquarters: Minato-ku, Tokyo) and SATAKE CORPORATION (SATAKE; Chairperson: Toshiko Satake; Headquarters: Higashi-Hiroshima-shi, Hiroshima Prefecture), saves workload in preparing samples of ballast water prior to testing for the presence of marine organisms. Another MOL Group company, MOL Techno-Trade, Ltd. (President: Hirokazu Hatta; Headquarters: Chuo-ku, Tokyo) will handle sales of "Ballast Catch".
SATAKE developed the "Ballast Eye" =Viable Organism Analyzer, inspection system to determine how many living organisms are contained in a vessel's ballast water, in response to stricter regulations set out in "International Convention for the Control and Management of Ship's Ballast Water and Sediments,2004" and MOL Techno-Trade has sold it since 2016.
The newly released "Ballast Catch" reduces the amount of work required to concentrate sample water for inspection with "Ballast Eye".
Previously, more than two specialists had to manually concentrate the sample water using a sampling net. It is also compact, lightweight, and requires no power source. It can even be carried onboard in a backpack.
"International Convention for the Control and Management of Ship's Ballast Water and Sediments,2004" establishes standards for the number of plankton and other living organisms in discharged ballast water. So, demand for the "Ballast Eye" and "Ballast Catch" is expected to increase among government offices and shipping companies around the world that conduct inspection for calling a port.
Suggested price for the set of "Ballast Catch" and "Ballast Eye": JPY 3 million (pretax).
Ballast Catch
1. Features
(1) Easy to carry onboard
The main unit and all accessories such as the piping and sample bottle can be stored in the specialized backpack, making it easier to move around onboard.
(2) No power source required, easy installation, reduced workload
After set "Ballast Catch "to a handrail, for example, and connect it to piping, then pour ballast water into it. The Ballast water can be concentrated quickly and easily. (For reference, it takes about 30 minutes to concentrate a size L sample of living organisms in which the smallest diameter is 50 micrometers.)
(3) Same level of collection performance as plankton net
The Ballast Catch offers the same level of collection performance as a plankton net because its collection filter uses the same nylon net. This reduces damage to living organisms, which will become the inspection sample. Furthermore, the replaceable filter prevents contamination, and also maintains the reliability of samples for inspection.