Research and Development (selected projects)

Maritime Safety and Pollution Prevention in the Wadden Sea

On behalf of the Danish-German-Dutch Wadden Sea Forum GAUSS mbH has conducted an analysis of the existing measures and the implementation of agreements regarding maritime safety and prevention of pollution from ships, entitled Maritime Safety and Pollution Prevention in the Wadden Sea. To improve the safety and environmental protection in the southern North Sea several national, bi-, and trilateral recommendations have been developed reflecting the special protective requirements of this area, as it is internationally acknowledged through the designation of the PSSA Wadden Sea.

The Blue Angel Award for environment conscious ship operation

Based on the GAUSS study The Blue Angel Award for environment conscious ship operation on behalf of the Federal Environmental Agency the German Environmental Label Jury has adopted our criteria for the award of the environmental label. To achieve this award high requirements have to be met by the management of shipping companies and ships, by the ship design and equipment, and especially with regard to measures for the reduction of emissions. Upon application the permission to use the Environmental Label may be granted for sea going ships world wide.

Ballast Water Treatment and Management

The overall objective of the research project Ballast Water Treatment and Management is the development of a marketable ballast water treatment system to meet the discharge standards as set forth in the Ballast Water Management Convention of the IMO. The Bremen ballast water treatment project tests and evaluates different technologies and their reasonable and commercially feasible combinations. The project has been initiated by GAUSS; partners are the shipyard MWB AG, the Alfred-Wegener-Institute for Polar and Marine Research (AWI) and specialized biologists.