The international standard for commissioning and testing of ship ballast water management systems led by my country is released

China News Service, October 9. According to the website of the State Administration for Market Regulation, the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) recently released "Ship and Marine Technology - Commissioning and Testing Procedures for Ballast Water Management System (BWMS) Electrolysis Ballast Water Management System" (ISO 23817:2026). The standard is led by China and participated by experts from the United States, Germany, Canada, Switzerland, Norway, Denmark and other countries.

Alien organisms carried by ships' ballast water are one of the important ways for marine organisms to invade, seriously threatening the safety of marine ecology. The ballast water management system is the key equipment to kill these invading organisms. Its killing effect depends on the design performance of the product itself and the level of on-site debugging after installation. This standard specifies the technical requirements for debugging and testing of electrolytic ballast water management systems, stipulating that the system operation time should be no less than 60 minutes, the discharge sampling volume should be no less than 1 cubic meter, and two types of organisms larger than or equal to 50 microns‌ and 10 microns to 50 microns‌ must be verified to meet the standards to ensure compliance with international convention emission standards and provide unified and scientific debugging and testing procedures and acceptance basis for ballast water management systems for global shipowners, shipyards, equipment manufacturers and industry authorities.

Up to now, my country has taken the lead in formulating three international standards related to ballast water management systems, covering key aspects such as system design and commissioning. They play an important role in curbing the spread of harmful aquatic organisms across sea areas through ballast water and contribute to the protection of the global marine ecological environment.