Demonstration Platforms and Technology Grants
National Ballast Water Activity
Chesapeake Bay
NOAA Sea Grant Support - MARAD ships support ballast water treatment system field demonstration in Baltimore.
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Great Lakes
Test Platform - On June 30, 2005, the Maritime Administration signed a Memorandum of Agreement with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration designed to foster ballast water treatment technology testing. Pursuant to the Agreement, MARAD will retrofit a fleet barge for use as a platform for testing, developing and demonstrating treatment technologies on a larger scale. The first platform, to be located in the Great Lakes, will serve as a pilot for a national program for additional platforms in other areas.
Modification drawings are available. They are available via link.
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Gulf Region
UNDER CONSTRUCTION
Pacific Northwest
UNDER CONSTRUCTION
West Coast
CALIFORNIA
Training Ship Golden Bear - The University of Washington in collaboration with The Glosten Associates, Inc. will conduct engineering and scientific feasibility study of the California Maritime Academy (Cal Maritime) operated MARAD vessel the Training Ship Golden Bear (T.S. Golden Bear) as a research platform for evaluating the efficacy of potential ballast water treatment systems. The study will not focus on a specific treatment technology but will identify the characteristics of the vessel that must be known and the modifications that must be made to the vessel before potential technologies can be installed and evaluated. A secondary objective of the study will be to develop a working research and educational relationship with Cal Maritime, the educational institution responsible for operating the T.S. Golden Bear. The one-year project will begin in Fall 2005 and a significant portion of the study will be completed by the end of the year.
Technology Grants
UNDER CONSTRUCTION