Greentech Lead America: Optimarin has inked an agreement
with Saga Shipholding (Norway) (SSH) for providing fleet-wide ballast water treatment.
The value of the retrofit contract is more than NOK 100
million.
The contract with SSH, an open-hatch carrier subsidiary
of Nippon Yusen Kaisha (NYK) with 850 vessels operating within the car
carriers, bulk, tanker (petroleum, chemical, LPG and LNG) and cruise sectors,
is significant for Optimarin.
The agreement covers complete ballast water treatment
(BWT) systems including engineering and service agreements for 24 sophisticated
open-hatch bulk carriers.
The company already has an existing agreement for seven
Saga and one NYK newbuildings. Optimarin’s combined Saga work program now
amounts to NOK 140 million.
Optimarin claims that its aggregate order book stands at
NOK ÂÂÂ250 million, representing over 110 vessels. With this, the company will
become the world’s leading BWT systems supplier to the shipping industry.
The Saga contracts include large scale Optimarin Ballast
Systems (OBS) capable of handling all seawater salinities and fresh water in
accordance to the International Maritime Organisation’s ballast water
management convention.
The OBS system features a fully back-flushing filter with
40 micron screens. It is fully automatic and self-cleaning and capable of
removing large sediment particles, zooplantkton and phytoplankton under heavy sediment
load conditions.
“There is going to be a serious bottleneck when some
50,000 ships scramble to meet global BWT regulations in a few years’ time. Now
with the US Coast Guard pushing ballast water ratification, global shipowners
must ramp up their BWT decision-making choices. We are one of them,” said Lars
Traaseth, managing director of SSH.
If all shipowners plan a BWT retrofit during a vessel’s
five-year survey, about 11,000 retrofits must be completed between 2013 and
2016. Market observers estimate a peak in 2017 with 16,500 vessels needing to
be retrofitted that year, an average of 45 systems per day.
“We seek robust quality in all aspects of our business
and found Optimarin’s BWT technology to meet our worldwide trading demands.
Optimarin’s automatic backwash solution, monitored by a pressure switch,
ensures and maintains filter efficiency. This was an important factor when
making our final decision,” said Eivind Holte, senior technical manager, Saga.
Optimarin’s fully back-flushing filter results in a
pressure drop of less than 0.5 bar. Filtered ballast water is directed to
a disinfection chamber where ultraviolet lamps deliver UV radiation for 100
percent disinfection.
Optimarin integrates its UV disinfection and advanced
filtration systems into one compact unit, thus achieving low power consumption,
easy installation and small footprint. The system does not deteriorate ballast
tank coatings.
“We are now confidently positioned to handle large
contracts and the growth that will inevitably come with the US forging ahead
with their BWT requirements,” says Pal Sanner, CEO of Optimarin.