I’ve been involved in ballast water research and compliance testing since 2008. Hence, my PhD-thesis is titled: ‘Ballast water treatment system testing. Assessing novel treatments and validating compliance methods’. In 2015 I was invited to join Control Union Certifications as Project manager for type approval projects of ballast water management systems. At the time, the United States Coast Guard had just announced its requirements for ‘Independent Laboratories’ to test treatment systems for USCG type approval. Under my supervision, Control Union Certifications was among the first to be accepted as Independent Laboratory and in the following years, we completed several projects for USCG and IMO type approval. At the same time, regulation was continuously developed for shipboard compliance testing such as the EPA Vessel General Permit and IMO BWM.2/Circ.70 Commissioning testing. To provide a centralized service offering for shipboard water compliance testing In 2019, the Control Union Vessel Performance Centre was founded by Paul Jacob Bins. Naturally, we worked closely together over the years, until I was invited to join the VPC fulltime to achieve our shared mission to Propel Shipping to Sustainability.

Cees van Slooten is the Coordinator of the CUC Independent Laboratory managing the testing for US Coast Guard Type Approval and IMO Type Approval of ballast water management systems.Previously, he worked for 5 years at the Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research studying the efficacy of multiple (experimental) ballast water management systems. During this period, he developed an ATP-based ballast water compliance method.He has a Master’s Degree in marine microbiology from the University of Groningen in 2009.

Control Union Certifications has been recognized as Independent Laboratory (CUC IL) by the US Coast Guard to carry out tests of Ballast Water Management Systems. As QA/QC officer it is my duty to assure and control the quality of all tests carried out at the sub-laboratories in our consortium for USCG and IMO Type Approval testing of BW management systems.

I'm currently involved in Ballast Water Research. The primary goal is enumerating organisms in ballast water before and after disinfection by ballast water treatment systems. In addition, several biological indicators are under investigation for their use in a quick assessment of ballast water. Thereby reducing the need for counting organisms and reducing the complexity and time involved in testing ballast water for compliance with the appropriate regulations.