AIRQUAL-1 Cuts Cost for Testing of Compressed Breathing Air for Fleet of Vessels

Following guidance from the Maritime & Coastguard Agency (MCA) and BS EN12021 regulations, fire teams on-board maritime vessels are required to test compressed air for breathing apparatus (BA) every 12 months.

Compressed air can become contaminated with a mixture of components including oils, water moisture or carbon dioxide therefore it is critical that breathing air is regularly tested for the safety of those using it.

Fire teams on-board the vessels need to have BA kits ready in case they are required into action so they are responsible of bottling their own compressed air.

The Challenge
A large marine company where working to find a solution to their problem of high costs associated with sending bottles of compressed air away to be tested and occasionally not getting the bottles back.

Once at port, a bottle of compressed air is sent away for testing in compliance with BS EN12021 regulations. The problem is that although vessels get their test results back, most don’t receive the gas bottle back before they leave the port therefore the bottles go missing at a cost.

The marine company learned that if they could do the testing in coordination with maintenance procedures of the compressed air bottles on-board the vessels, they could manage their own inventory which would prevent the bottles from going missing and the company will make a cost saving.

The marine company had to find a compressed air quality test kit that could fulfil the relevant requirements of EN12021, potentially be left un-used for periods of time, didn’t require any additional power and order from a reliable supplier who could easily supply consumables to port.

The Solution
a1-cbiss were contacted by the marine company regarding the AIRQUAL-1, a breathing air quality test kit that has seen success worldwide. The marine company calculated that the breathing air quality test kit will pay for itself over the next two years from the savings that they can now make from carrying out the testing in this way.

Since the bespoke AIRQUAL-1 test kits were going straight onto the vessels, communication between a1-cbiss and the marine company was vital to the success of the project. a1-cbiss kept in constant contact with the fleet support team’s project superintendent to ensure that they were kept up to date on every stage of the build, allowing delivery to coincide with the vessels’ next port visit.

a1-cbiss supplied AIRQUAL-1 breathing air quality test kits to go on forty-two different vessels worldwide. Each unit was designed to a bespoke specification to suit each vessels on-board requirements.