Ballast Water Evaulation Onboard Golden Bear
The California Maritime Academy is partnering with industry, government and higher education colleagues to create a Shipboard Ballast Water Treatment Research, Development, Test and Evaluation Facility aboard the school's 500-ft. Training Ship Golden Bear. The $700,000 project is underwritten by a National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) National Sea Grant, with additional funding from the U.S. Maritime Administration (MarAd), and the California State Lands Commission. It is designed to reduce the time and expense of testing and certifying ballast water treatment systems as compared with the current approach of using commercial ships of opportunity. Operational launch is set for the fall of 2009. Bill Davidson, Chief Engineer for Golden Bear, Professor Capt. Dan Weinstock and J. Kim McNutt, Dean of Cal Maritime Sponsored Projects and Extended Learning (SPEL), will play key roles in facility installation and operation. They'll work with Senior Associate Kevin Reynolds of Seattle's The Glosten Associates (design/installation), and Research Associate Professor Russell Herwig and Research Scientist Jeffery Cordell of the University of Washington School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences and Washington Sea Grant (facility testing/certification and Cal Maritime curriculum development.) "Ships routinely load and discharge large volumes of water to optimize vessel stability," Davidson notes. "This can spread non-native species to foreign waters such as the Asian mitten crab, which has burrowed into area Bay delta levees, weakening their flood-protection capabilities." Government and private researchers are working to devise new ballast water treatment systems in advance of approaching regulatory deadlines for implementation. However, each system must be tested and independently verified and certified as meeting baseline standards set by the International Maritime Organization (IMO), state of California, or other regulators. The new Cal Maritime facility is designed to simplify and streamline that process. SPEL Dean J. Kim McNutt explained that the new project will enable Golden Bear to function as a "plug-n-play" platform for research teams, regardless of how they approach the treatment challenge. "They install their system in a 20 ft. shipping container, using standardJanuary 2009
ized connection specifications which we will provide. They can set up their platform at their home location, and then easily transport it to Vallejo, load it aboard Golden Bear, and tie into our ballast water tanks and test facilities without having to install the equipment below deck." "The Golden Bear is really an ideal solution for researchers," adds the ship's skipper, Captain Harry Bolton. "We're berthed at the campus eight months each year, except for our summer training cruise. We're right next to a major interstate and with ample area lodgings for research teams. We will provide an operational ship with existing labs, and custom-configured for just this kind of
research." "Our location at the junction of the upper San Francisco Bay and the Sacramento Delta also means that we have a rich 'soup' of marine organisms, many that are non-indigenous - providing ideal conditions for ballast water testing, whether on the load or discharge side," notes Professor Dan Weinstock. "We provide a dynamic facility -- capable of handling a wide variety of system concepts and designs. Best of all, we expect to reduce the lengthy time requirements and economic costs of existing shipboard testing. We'll provide a consistent environment for standardization and quality control of experiments. And this will be a great teaching
platform for our cadets and general student populations on ballast water treatment and related environmental law and policy issues." The Glosten Associates will work closely with Davidson and his Golden Bear team on the design and installation of the facility. The University of Washington will calibrate systems and provide independent certification of testing results undertaken by research teams. In addition, the University of Washington and Washington Sea Grant will assist Cal Maritime faculty in the development of curriculum to educate cadets about the problems associated with aquatic invasive species and ballast water transfer and treatment technologies. Cal Maritime's SPEL Center will have responsibility for marketing and administering contracts for use of the facility once it is operational. "Our current timetable calls for the new platform to be available for use next fall (2009)," Dean McNutt explained. "Anyone interested in learning more about the facility, and wanting to be notified when we issue system specifications and begin accepting reservations for its use, can contact the Cal Maritime Office of Special Projects and Extended Learning at (707) 654-1217 or
kmcnutt@csum.edu
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