Water Separator News

Canada's Minister of Public Services and Procurement, Jean-Yves Duclos, on behalf of the Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard, Diane Lebouthillier, announced a contract award following a competitive process, valued at approximately $44 million (including taxes) to Ocean Industries Inc. for the vessel life extension of the CCGS Griffon.Scheduled to take place from June 2025 to October 2026, the vessel life extension work entails refurbishing and repairing the main propulsion motors…

Alfa Laval announced the launch of PureBilge Compact, a compact version of the oily water separator PureBilge, designed to reduce the sytems footprint and ease install.PureBilge Compact is dseigned to be a highly compact and modular solution that provides a great opportunity for small-segment vessels to benefit from the proven oily water separation technology without space and installation constraints. Its reduced footprint and hassle-free installation also makes it an ideal retrofit solution for bigger vessels struggling with filters.PureBilge Compact is designed for 24/7 unmanned operation…

Naval architects and marine engineers sit on the front lines of the maritime industry’s battle toward decarbonization. Morgan Fanberg, President, Glosten, discusses the challenges and opportunities ahead.Put in context the challenge ahead for ship owners and ship designers to meet emission targets of 2050?I started my career in 1998 and as a young marine engineer, the challenges that I faced were taking old boats and meeting SOLAS requirements, developing ship yard packages for modifications such as oily water separator upgrades (for example).

Canadian shipping company Algoma Central Corporation was fined $500,000 in the U.S. after pleading guilty to dumping wastewater into Lake Ontario.One of the Great Lakes operator's dry bulk carriers, the Algoma Strongfield, was built in China and delivered to Canada on May 30, 2017, by a crew from Redwise Maritime Services, B.V., a vessel transport company based in the Netherlands.During the delivery voyage, while manned by a Redwise crew, the oily water separator and oil content monitor malfunctioned or failed on multiple occasions, which resulted in an accumulation of unprocessed oily bilge water. On May 5, 2017, an Algoma employee…

Singapore-based shipping company Pacific International Lines (PIL) will pay $3 million in fines after pleading guilty to felony dumping violations in Hagatna, Guam.The vessel operating company and two engineers were sentenced for illegally discharging oil and for maintaining false and incomplete records relating to the discharges of oily bilge water from the containership Kota Harum in 2019. PIL, chief engineer Maung Maung Soe, and second engineer Peng Luo Hai admitted that oily bilge water was illegally dumped from the Kota Harum directly into the ocean and into Apra Harbor, Guam without being properly processed through required pollution prevention equipment.

Pacific Carriers Limited (PCL), a Singapore-based company that owns subsidiaries engaged in international shipping, was sentenced today in federal court before U.S. District Court Judge Louise Flanagan in New Bern, N.C., after pleading guilty to violations of the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships, obstruction of justice, and for a failure to notify the U.S. Coast Guard of a hazardous condition on the cargo vessel Pac Antares.PCL pleaded guilty to a total of eight felony offenses across three judicial districts – the Eastern District of North Carolina, the Southern District of Texas, and the Eastern District of Louisiana. PCL was sentenced to pay a fine of $12 million…

A new version of the Wave MiniBOSS IMO separator is now available. The Series II Wave MiniBOSS offers a faster flow rate, providing 0.5m³/hr across all models . All models of the separator are available for DC or AC power.Approved by the IMO, ABS and US Coast Guard, it is MEPC 107 (49) certified for use on all vessels from 400 Gross Tons. The MiniBOSS system ensures that no traces of oil or other pollutants such as microplastics, are discharged overboard thanks to its use of a pre-filter and two Wavestream oil removal filters.The Wave MiniBOSS is a neatly designed bulkhead mounted system.

United States Department of Justice’s steadfast protection of U.S. waters equates to criminal charges and massive finesThe United States has a long history of holding companies and individuals accountable for violating environmental laws and regulations, including the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL). With the 40th anniversary of the passage of the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships (APPS), which implements MARPOL, United States government agencies continue to prioritize the protection of oceans and waterways from pollution.

How many times have you heard someone say, “Oh, that person is a born leader; I could never do what they do as I am not a born leader”? That train of thought has recently come under increased scrutiny and debate as the U.S. Merchant Marine enters the 21st century. As part of this focus, the International Maritime Association (IMO) updated the International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers (STCW) with the 2010 Manilla Amendments.

Marinfloc has introduced its combined Exhaust Gas Recirculation Bleed Off water treatment system and Bilge water separator. The solution is approved by both DNV GL and MAN Energy Solutions and fulfills the requirements of MEPC 107(49) and MEPC 307(73). The approval means that only one separator is required instead of two. Reducing the amount of equipment needed on a vessel will provide shipyards, engine makers and ship owners with a significant cost saving solution. Exhaust Gas Recirculation (EGR) is used to reduce NOx as per the Tier III requirements when use with compliant fuel.

Singapore-based shipping company Unix Line PTE Ltd. pleaded guilty in U.S. federal court to a violation of the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships.Unix Line admitted that its crew members onboard the 16,408 gross-ton oceangoing motor tanker Zao Galaxy knowingly failed to record in the vessel’s oil record book the overboard discharge of oily bilge water without the use of required pollution-prevention equipment, during the vessel’s voyage from the Philippines to Richmond, Calif.According to the plea agreement, Unix Line is the operator of the Zao Galaxy, which set sail carrying a cargo of palm oil from the Philippines on January 21, 2019, bound for Richmond. On February 11, 2019, the Zao Galaxy arrived in Richmond, where it underwent a U.S. Coast Guard inspection and examination.

Fishing Vessel Owner and Operator Plead Guilty and Fined $1 Million for Discharging Oily Waste into the Coastal Waters of the United States Sea Harvest Inc., operator of the fishing vessels Enterprise and Pacific Capes, along with Fishing Vessel Enterprises Inc., the vessels’ owner, pleaded guilty today to violating the Clean Water Act for both knowing and negligent discharges of oily bilge water from the vessels’ engine rooms. The companies were sentenced to pay a $1 million criminal fine and serve a five-year term of probation.

Two shipping companies incorporated in Liberia pled guilty today in federal court in Wilmington, Delaware, to failing to notify the U.S. Coast Guard of a hazardous condition on one if its vessels and to violating the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships (APPS) by presenting false documents to the Coast Guard that covered up vessel oil pollution.Jeffrey Bossert Clark, Assistant Attorney General of the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division and David C. Weiss, U.S. Attorney for the District of Delaware announced the plea agreement.

In addition to fuel, modern ships also run on paper or their electronic equivalent. Vessels are required to keep written or electronic records of many things – and the list is growing.There is the traditional Ship’s Log, which records the vessel’s position, course, speed, weather, and unusual events to name a few. The Oil Record Book (ORB) has been around for a long time and tracks all movement of oil throughout the vessel, including its loading, consumption, and discharge (generally via the oily water separator and overboard discharge piping).

The hard-fought passage of VIDA promises a simpler, more unified and logical set of environmental standards related to the discharge of myriad vessel streams. Industry wanted it, and now it is here. Will it deliver, and if so, when? That depends on who you talk to.As most commercial maritime operators know, US ballast water regulations made a sharp turn last December. That’s when President Trump signed the Frank LoBiondo Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2018.That legislation contained Title IX – the “Vessel Incidental Discharge Act (VIDA)…

Portline Bulk International S.A. pleaded guilty in federal court in Charleston, South Carolina, to one count of violating the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships and one count of Obstruction. The charges stem from the falsification of the Oil Record Book onboard the M/V Achilleus, a Maltese-flagged ocean-going bulk carrier ship managed by Defendant Portline.From April 2017 to August 2018, senior members of the vessel’s engineering team oversaw and participated in the bypass of the ship’s Oil Water Separator utilizing a yellow plastic hose, referred to as a magic pipe. The ship’s Chief Engineer made a series of fake entries and key omissions in the Oil Record Book in order to conceal the illegal overboard discharges of oily bilge water. On Aug.

Shipping industry leaders, joined by Goldman Sachs, discussed IMO 2020 challenges and opportunities at the ABS panel discussion held at the start of SMM 2018. They exchanged their views on compliant fuel availability, fuel pricing spreads and scrubbers shape the conversation at SMM.Christian Lelong, Senior Commodities Analyst, Goldman Sachs; Aaron Bresnahan, Vice President Marine Solutions, Wartsila; Paddy Rodgers, Director and Chief Executive Officer, EURONAV; Wolfgang Hintzsche, Marine Director, German Shipowners’ Association; Lars Robert Pederson, Deputy Secretary General, Bimco and moderator Kirsi Tikka, ABS Executive Vice President and Senior Maritime Advisor…

The SMM 2018 scheduled to take place September 4-7, 2018, in Hamburg, Germany, is held every two years and is the traditional launching platform for a variety of commercial shipping and shipbuilding technologies. Five new marine technologies to look for in Hamburg include:Company: Radio HollandBooth: B6.301Product: Radar, Service, BWTRadio Holland, known for its global service network, shows its network at SMM as well as newdevelopments and innovations in its network. Most important…

RWO Veolia is presenting its new products RWO-CBM and OWS-Controller at this year's leading trade fair SMM, focusing on the main topics of smart shipping and green technology. The products are milestones in the development of a fully digitalized system maintenance and will already make the operation of water treatment plants on ships and offshore platforms much more efficient, transparent, safe and environmentally friendly. The Bremen-based water specialists will talk about the…

The recent implementation (January 19, 2018) of the long-delayed small Vessel General Permit (sVGP) requirement has major implications for environmental regulations in general, and specifically how the compliance difficulties continue for vessel owners with no real end in sight. Moreover, the U.S. Coast Guard’s (USCG) recent publication of NVIC 01-18 (March 1, 2018), while helpful in advising owners on how to comply with the ballast water regulations, does not relieve vessels from the underlying requirements…

Non-compliant discharge of oily water continues to be an environmental threat – and an expensive headache for the marine industry. With the tamper-proof Alfa Laval BlueBox SA, a standalone oil content monitor and data recorder, Alfa Laval is providing peace of mind to ship owners and operators. Despite many years of strict enforcement when it comes to oily water discharge limits, there are still high-profile cases that result in extreme fines or jail terms. Naturally, no company can afford to take risks when the consequences are of such magnitude.

Princess Cruise Lines Ltd. was sentenced to pay a $40 million penalty – the largest-ever for crimes involving deliberate vessel pollution – related to illegal dumping overboard of oil contaminated waste and falsification of official logs in order to conceal the discharges. The sentence was announced by Acting Assistant Attorney General Jeffrey H. Wood for the Department of Justice’s Environment and Natural Resources Division, and Acting U.S. Attorney Benjamin G. Greenberg for the Southern District of Florida in Miami. The sentence was imposed by U.S. District Judge Patricia A.

Magic Pipes, 15 PPM alarms, crew familiarization, improper entries in the oil record book, oil record book not maintained: these are all terms used by various Port State Control (PSC) officers worldwide when referencing the oily water separator. When PSC so decides, it also has the option of making one of these an ISM deficiency, adding another black mark against a vessel. Nevertheless, even with such an important piece of equipment and the records documenting its proper use, both are often neglected.