Historic Cold Pushed U.S. Coast Guard Icebreaking Fleet to the Limit in 2026
The icebreaking season for the U.S. Coast Guard was longer this year after a series of storms ravaged the country.
Norway-based DNV has become the first class society to achieve the status of an Independent Laboratory (IL) for the evaluation, inspection, and testing of ballast water management systems.
This means it is authorised by the United States Coast Guard (USCG) to evaluate and test technologies designed to treat ballast water on ships in order to prevent the spread of non-native aquatic species in lakes, rivers and coastal waters.
DNV is leading a partnership between test facility DHI, Denmark and DNV Certification to test and evaluate systems in accordance with the USCG requirements. More test facilities – in addition to DHI – are in the pipeline to be added to DNV’s network of subcontractors worldwide. These include the Golden Bear Facility in California and Delta in Denmark.
DNV is the world’s leading body for the type approval of ballast water treatment systems in accordance with the IMO Guidelines for the Approval of Ballast Water Management Systems (G8). More than 25 systems have been tested and approved at different locations around the world.
“With the IL status in place, we can now offer class, IMO and USCG approval to manufacturers of ballast water treatment systems,” says Jad Mouawad, DNV Head of Section for Environmental Protection.
DNV is already under way in testing two manufacturers of ballast water treatment systems in relation to the new ETV/USCG standard as well as the Ballast Water Management Convention’s G8 Guidelines.
Sign up for gCaptain’s newsletter and never miss an update
Subscribe to gCaptain Daily and stay informed with the latest global maritime and offshore news
Essential news coupled with the finest maritime content sourced from across the globe.
Sign Up