B-QUA Ballast Water Test Kit Wins Seatrade Clean Shipping Award

France-based water microbiology specialist aqua-tools was presented with a Seatrade Award on Friday, during a celebratory lunch marking the 30th anniversary of what is considered one of the most prestigious of maritime industry awards.

Aqua-tools’ B-QUA ballast water test kit took the prize in the Clean Shipping category, despite intense competition from the likes of Hullwiper, Ecosubsea, NRG Marine, SCF Sovcomflot, and Subsea Industries.

Carine Magdo, aqua-tools’ Business Development Manager, who received the prize said: “We are thrilled to have won this award, especially given the strong credentials of the other nominees in the Clean Shipping category. For us, the award represents a significant breakthrough in the ballast water treatment sector.

“The industry is now more fully aware of the importance of ballast water sampling and testing and how it can help ensure systems are operating in accordance with the requirements to prevent the spread of non-indigenous aquatic species.”

The company’s B-QUA kit is a rapid predictive and preventive solution for testing ballast water for both regulatory compliance and system performance. The portable, easy-to-use kit is based on aqua-tools’ proprietary ATP2GTM method to measure all viable organism size classes specified in the D2 standard. Results are delivered in less than one hour. It can be used both onboard ship or shoreside.

Aqua-tools’ won the award because the judging panel, which included experts from leading industry associations BIMCO, CLIA, HELMEPA, IACS, ICS, INTERCARGO, INTERTANKO and OCIMF, deemed B-QUA successfully demonstrated a technology that supported the industry’s objective of clean and sustainable shipping.

The UK Ship Register-sponsored award – designed to “echo the progression and modernisation inherent throughout today’s maritime industry” – was presented Doug Barrow, Director, UK Ship Register.

Marc Raymond, aqua-tools’ founder and CEO, added: “Winning this Seatrade Award suggests that the industry believes effective, rapid water sampling and testing has a significant role to play in the furtherance of clean, sustainable shipping.”.