The Great Ships Initiative (GSI) offers comprehensive independent research services at the bench, land- and ship-board scales to developers of ballast water treatment systems (BWTS) designed to minimize the presence of live organisms, including microbes and viruses, in ballast water discharge from ships. The goal of the GSI is to further the efficient and effective transition of BWTSs from concept and prototype to certification and routine operational use through combining and coordinating complementary resources and expertise at the respective research sites.
All GSI tests take place in purely freshwater and involve the full suite of ambient organisms likely to be encountered in freshwater. In instances in which treatment developers wish to test at more than one salinity, GSI partners with other facilities in the US and abroad (e.g., MERC, NIVA, NIOZ, Golden Bear) to make land-based testing of a given BWTS at two locations logistically smooth and substantively consistent.
Specifically, in 2011, GSI offers qualified applicants freshwater research services at three scales:
- Bench-scale (up to 5 BWTS);
- Land-based scale (up to 3 BWTS); and
- Ship-board scale (up to 2 BWTS).
Depending upon the treatment system status in the Research and Development process, these GSI tests may support Pre-Certification Assessments, Certification Assessments (vis a vis a state, domestic or international regulatory structures), or Post-Certification Assessment, e.g. to add freshwater tests to an otherwise complete research portfolio.
GSI currently offers freshwater research services at no cost to the treatment developer (except transportation and installation/removal of the system). Candidate systems will be offered research services only if technical and programmatic criteria for receiving testing services are met, based on third party technical review and Advisory Committee input
Application Materials
Submission Process
GSI will consider any complete applications that are
submitted electronically using the electronic application form
(see application materials above) during calendar year 2011.
All applications will receive an email confirming their receipt
within 48 hours of submission. Please email nmays@nemw.org
if you do not receive this confirmation email. Also, please
email nmays@nemw.org
if you have any questions or problems submitting the electronic
application form and/or supporting information and attachments.
Background Information
Contact Information and Inquiries
Direct any questions regarding this solicitation or the application
process by e-mail only to Allegra Cangelosi (acangelo@nemw.org).
Please put "GSI Application Question" in
the subject line. Applicant inquiries will be consolidated weekly,
if applicable (without affiliation information) and responses
sent to all interested applicants. To receive digests of these
inquiries and our responses please contact Nicole Mays (nmays@nemw.org).
