Imtech Marine’s Venteville supplies new, environment friendly ballast water treatment system SiCure.
Venteville, part of Imtech Marine, supplies systems for ballast water treatment and is agent for the new SiCure® system developed by Siemens Water Technologies. This is an environmentally friendly solution to prevent harmful foreign organisms from entering national waters via ballast water of ships. This ties in with the Ballast Water Treaty, which (in a phased manner and by 2016 at the latest) requires ships to have a system to purify water of harmful organisms. Since 2006 Venteville is part of Imtech Marine, global service provider and system integrator of tailor-made technological solutions for the maritime market. Development and supply of green technology concepts is one of the focal points in the strategy of Imtech Marine.
‘The transportation of organisms and micro organisms has been regulated at airports for years, ‘ says Michiel Veen, General Manager of Venteville. ‘In the maritime world, that was different. Ships take in ballast water when they depart without cargo. Within this ballast water organisms are contained and taken to every continent. Once the ship is loaded again in a different port, the ballast water is discharged, including the foreign, sometimes harmful organisms. Veen: ‘In partnership with Siemens, we were already supplying Chloropac® system to combat biofouling in engine rooms. With SiCure™, it has become possible to purify ballast water from 600 cubic metres per hour.’
Protection against harmful organisms
This ballast water management system uses a combination of physical separation by filters and treatment with hypochlorite, which is produced from sea water. At higher volumes treatment with hypochlorite is more space and energy efficient than UV light applications. The system works without the addition of chemicals. It is a reliable, environmentally friendly solution to purify water of organisms , to protect local ecosystems.
Official quality mark
Venteville already has decades of experience with the Chloropac® biofouling control system. It has been implemented on board thousands of ships. Now the SiCure™ system has also successfully passed the preliminary stages of the test phase. ‘It is undergoing the final extensive tests and we expect to have the official quality mark mid-2012’, says Veen. The ballast water treatment system is perfectly suited to the deep sea and offshore market. Venteville supplies advice and support during installation on board. The Imtech Marine company also provides the service of the system after it has been taken into use.