Ballast Water Treatment Equipment News

Sweden's Alfa Laval reported a fall in quarterly orders on Wednesday on weaker-than-expected demand for ship exhaust cleaners and pumping systems, sending its shares sharply lower.Demand for so-called scrubbers which strip out sulphur from marine fuel has boosted the engineering group as well as Wartsila in the past few years as shipowners prepared for stricter sulphur emissions regulations from next year.Chief Executive Tom Erixon forecast higher sequential demand for Alfa's…

Manufacturers and stakeholders in the ballast water treatment equipment market have codified a unified manufacturers’ association.The Ballastwater Equipment Manufacturers’ Association (BEMA) met on April 19, 2018 for their first Annual Meeting and elected the inaugural Board of Directors.According to the group, the need for this association arose from the growing demand for well-founded information on the practicability of ballast water treatment technologies, as well as on the…

Engineering group Alfa Laval reported quarterly earnings and order intake above market expectations on the back of an upturn in the oil and gas sector on Monday and forecast demand would remain at the same level in the second quarter. The company, a maker of products such as heat exchangers, separators and ballast water treatment equipment, reported order intake of 10.0 billion crowns, above the 9.6 billion seen by analysts. "Improved activity in upstream oil and gas, on shore, as well as in the off-shore sector contributed to both Energy and Marine reporting a somewhat better order intake than we had expected," it said in a statement.

Damen has concluded its latest multiple vessel transport. The shipment of ready-for-delivery vessels contains Stan Pontoons 4113, 4111, 4512, 5211 and 6316 in addition to a number of ASD 2810 Tugs. From a client’s point of view, a transport such as this means that vessels are available at competitive prices and within fast delivery times. The transport was performed by SAL Heavy Lift’s MV Svenja, which set sail from Shanghai at the end of August loaded with Stan Pontoons from Damen Yichang Shipyard, China.

Damen launched two new ballast water treatment solutions onto the market, Damen LoFlo and Damen BalCon. The new solutions are a response to the International Maritime Organization (IMO) Ballast Water Management Convention 2004, which is edging ever closer to ratification and the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) Ballast Water Management regulations already in force. Once the IMO convention passes into legislation, an estimated 60,000 vessels worldwide will require retrofitted treatment systems…

Joined up thinking from two marine technology suppliers addresses impending legislation for Ballast Water Treatment and offers a practical solution for monitoring and recording the correct discharge of ballast water, in real-time. The International Maritime Organizations 2004 Ballast Water Management Convention lays down strict guidelines for the treatment and discharge of ballast water. Already in force as of January 1, 2015 in U.S. waters, universal ratification is expected to occur during the next six months.

Damen has launched two new ballast water treatment solutions onto the market, Damen LoFlo and Damen BalCon. The new solutions are a response to the International Maritime Organization (IMO) Ballast Water Management Convention 2004, which is edging ever closer to ratification and the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) Ballast Water Management regulations already in force. Once the IMO convention passes into legislation, an estimated 60,000 vessels worldwide will require retrofitted treatment systems…

The trend to properly outfit the interiors of today’s workboats goes far beyond the new Maritime Labor Convention. Instead, it’s about doing the right thing for the right reasons. Harvey Gulf, for example, has it right. In a one-on-one interview conducted with Shane Guidry not too long ago, the Harvey Gulf CEO told this writer, “I want my mariners to want to come to work. You do that by making sure the vessels that they serve on are comfortable and well appointed.” He went on to explain that virtually every vessel that Harvey Gulf has acquired in the past ten years has either been upgraded to ‘Harvey Gulf standards,’ or it is no longer in their fleet.

The U.K. Royal Fleet Auxiliary’s RFA Argus serves as a Primary Casualty Receiving Ship maintaining a 100-bed medical complex aboard. A&P Falmouth has asked Houlder to provide technical guidance during the retrofit of its ballast water treatment System. The engineering work includes an initial survey, the identification of hazards and creation of a risk register, development of a procurement specification for major and long lead items and an installation specification including definition of new pipework, shipping routes and removal drawings.

The global trade association for merchant shipowners, the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS), has modified its stance towards the ratification by governments of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) Ballast Water Management Convention, which has still not yet entered into force having been adopted more than 10 years ago. The ICS Board of Directors has agreed that the position of ICS is now as follows: “Notwithstanding the need to resolve outstanding issues and questions concerning the implementation of the IMO Ballast Water Management Convention, ICS acknowledges the agreement in principle by the IMO Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC) meeting in October to address the various concerns raised by the shipping industry.

Governments attending the International Maritime Organization (IMO) Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC) this week have made real progress towards agreeing solutions to major issues that have previously impeded ratification of the IMO Ballast Water Management Convention, says the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS), the global trade association for ship operators. Speaking at IMO headquarters, ICS Secretary General, Peter Hinchliffe, remarked, “We are very pleased…

The global shipping industry – represented by the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS), BIMCO, Intercargo, Intertanko, World Shipping Council (WSC), CLIA and IPTA – has voiced continuing concern about serious implementation problems associated with the IMO Ballast Water Management (BWM) Convention. At last week’s IMO Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC), governments decided neither to discuss in full nor to resolve these pivotal issues on which industry had made a detailed written submission. The industry submission addressed concerns about the lack of robustness of the current IMO type-approval process for the expensive new treatment equipment…

A report released by the Canadian Shipowners Association (CSA) has found that American regulations to require the installation of ballast water treatment equipment on Canadian domestic vessels beginning in 2014 will cost the Canadian economy  1.1 billion dollars over the next five years. Further complicating this situation is the reality that ship owners cannot comply with the regulations at this time, as the appropriate technology does not exist. The United States Coast Guard…

The International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) held its Annual General Meeting in Oslo from June 5-7 at the Norwegian Shipowners’ Association (NSA). National shipowners’ associations from Europe, Asia and the Americas, representing all sectors and trades and over 80% of the world merchant fleet, considered pressing international issues of concern to global shipowners and operators. Matters discussed included the challenges associated with the implementation of new International Maritime Organization (IMO) environmental regulations and industry preparations for the entry into force of the International Labor Organization (ILO) Maritime Labor Convention.

Ballast water treatment equipment manufacturer Hyde Marine provides systems for all sizes and manners of vessels, but increasingly, the U.S.-based subsidiary of Calgon Carbon Company is being recognized for its work with offshore operators – here and abroad. Hyde Marine has long been active in the worldwide effort to control the spread of aquatic invasive species in ballast water. Early on, Hyde supplied the first fully operational shipboard Ballast Water Treatment system. In 2003, after requirements were better defined, Hyde installed a state-of-the-art filtration and UV disinfection system aboard the Coral Princess. This system was tested extensively on land-based installations and on board the Coral Princess in the fall of 2004.

Speaking to delegates at the opening of the Nor-Shipping event in Oslo, the  Chairman of the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS), Masamichi Morooka, said that impending new legislation to protect the environment potentially presented an additional industry-wide cost of more than half a trillion dollars between 2015 and 2025. This is around 50 billion dollars of additional capital and operating cost in every single year for a 10 year period and beyond. “As many companies struggle to survive during the difficult years ahead…

Ballast water was first recognized by the scientific community as a vector for transfer of potentially invasive marine species more than 30 years ago. It took a number of years, and acceptance that zebra mussels had reached the Great Lakes in the ballast water of ships arriving from the Black Sea, before the maritime industry generally acknowledged that they were part of the problem. Initially, high seas ballast water exchange was the only available means for removing potentially invasive species from the tanks. That methodology presented risks to the stability of the ship (and the safety of the crew), as illustrated by the near-loss of the car carrier Cougar Ace in 2006 in waters of the North Pacific Ocean just south of the Aleutian Chain.

Steven A. Fisher, Executive Director of the American Great Lakes Ports Association takes issue with the findings of a Notre Dame Ballast Water Technology research paper. In recent years, a debate has raged between the maritime industry and environmental activists regarding the appropriate regulation of ships' ballast water. This public policy discussion has unfortunately been tainted by considerable misinformation. Such misinformation fuels "issue hysteria" and leads to poorly crafted regulations.

OceanSaver has entered the Japanese market with a major ballast water treatment contract for four open hatch bulk carriers being built by Japan’s Oshima Shipbuilding Ltd for Gearbulk. The 72,000dwt Open Hatch Bulk Carriers are being built to DNV class and each vessel will be fitted with a 1,200m3/h type approved Mark II OceanSaver system. The first two systems will be commissioned in 2012 and will incorporate OceanSaver’s second generation design, engineered for reliability, low maintenance requirements and low power consumption.

At the ICS AGM, national shipowners’ associations from Europe, Asia and the Americas, representing all sectors and trades and 80% of the world merchant fleet, considered pressing international issues of concern to global ship operators. Matters discussed included the continuing piracy crisis in the Indian Ocean and the challenge of further reducing ships’ CO2 emissions. Another pressing concern discussed by ICS members was the serious problems for shipowners created by the delayed entry into force of the IMO Ballast Water Management (BWM) Convention. Because of major changes proposed at IMO to important draft guidelines on ballast water sampling and analysis that will be used by port state control inspectors…

The International Chamber of Shipping (ICS), which represents all sectors and trades and over 80% of the world merchant fleet, has called on the International Maritime Organization (IMO) to address some critical issues concerning the imminent implementation of the IMO Ballast Water Management (BWM) Convention. Despite delays by governments with respect to ratification, the 2004 BWM Convention, which is intended to prevent damage to local ecosystems by invasive species of marine micro-organisms carried in ships’ ballast water, is expected to enter into force within the next 2 years.

Montreal-based Fednav Group, owner of Federal Marine Terminals, Inc. (FMT), the leading terminal operator at the Port of Cleveland, has delivered three new state-of-the-art vessels to trade on the Great Lakes-Seaway System. The MV Federal Satsuki, arrived at Federal Marine Terminals, Cleveland, this week from Europe, carrying steel for the coal mining, automotive, and cosmetic industries and machinery for the food industry. After unloading its cargo in Cleveland, the vessel will load grain in Toledo for export to Northern Europe. The new ship was welcomed today in a special gift-exchange ceremony between Port of Cleveland officials and Fednav executives, on the occasion of its maiden voyage to the United States.

Representatives of the leading worldwide Associations of Shipbuilders, Classification Societies and Shipowners met in Busan, Korea for their annual Tripartite meeting hosted by the Korean Register of Shipping and KOSHIPA, the national shipbuilders association. The meeting was united in expressing its serious concern with the obstacles that all three parties face as the Ballast Water Management Convention moves closer to ratification, eight years after its text was adopted. It was always going to be challenging to fit ballast water treatment equipment to all of the world’s 70,000 ships.