Ballast Water Treatment Facility opened in Tirupati

TIRUPATI: The National Institute of Ocean Technology, under the Ministry of Earth Sciences, has inaugurated Southeast Asia’s first Ballast Water Treatment Technologies Test Facility at Pamanji and Vagarru villages in Tirupati district. This advanced facility, crucial for marine conservation, will help prevent the spread of invasive aquatic species through ballast water, which poses risks to marine ecosystems. Compliant with the International Maritime Organisation’s D2 discharge standards, the facility will enable testing and certification of Ballast Water Treatment Systems as per the Ballast Water Convention 2004. He also laid the foundation for India’s first Centre for Marine Microbial Repository at NIOT’s campus, focusing on deep-sea microbial preservation under the Deep Ocean Mission.