The West of England P&I Club has confirmed that India has now approved eDOT Marine Laboratories to use the modified Proctor Fagerberg test for iron ore fines. A table with up to date details of approved laboratories has been released. The table also includes the validity of their approval and the test methods which they are authorized to use.
For a number of years the Director General of Shipping (DGS) India has approved local laboratories to carry out tests as provided for in Appendix 2 of the IMSBC Code, to determine the TML of material which may liquefy.
Effective from January 1st, 2017, a new test procedure for determining Transportable Moisture Limit (TML), the modified Proctor Fagerberg test procedure for iron ore fines is mandated in accordance with SOLAS – Amendments to the IMSBC Code (Amendment 03-15).
In a previous article, the Club had advised that the TML determined using the various test methods will differ. Typically, for a given sample of cargo, the penetration test will give the lowest TML, the flow table test will give a higher TML, the Proctor Fagerberg test will give an even higher TML, with the modified Proctor Fagerberg test giving the highest TML of all test methods.
The Club has seen cases where the moisture content of an iron ore fines cargo presented for loading in India has been below the TML determined by the modified Proctor Fagerberg test, although it has been higher than that determined by a flow table test, and therefore could not be loaded as the flow table test was the only methodology approved by DGS.