Belco News

The M/V Mesabi Miner has sailed from Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding Company in Sturgeon Bay, Wis., becoming Interlake Steamship Company’s fourth self-unloading bulk carrier to be outfitted with exhaust gas scrubbers. Interlake became the first U.S.-flag fleet to test freshwater scrubbers on the Great Lakes in April 2015 after pioneering the emission-reduction technology on its M/V Hon. James L. Oberstar. In 2016, the company outfitted its first thousand foot vessel, the M/V James R. Barker, and its 826-foot M/V Lee A. Tregurtha in its second phase of exhaust gas scrubber implementation.

Maritime Reporter & Engineering News recently spoke with Mark Barker, president of The Interlake Steamship Company, who has sent its fourth vessel — its second 1,000-footer — to be outfitted with exhaust gas scrubbers. After seriously pursuing the possibility of converting its ships to run on liquefied natural gas (LNG) several years ago, U.S. based Great Lakes shipper The Interlake Steamship Company found that the region’s LNG infrastructure was simply not present to support such conversions.

DuPont, through its subsidiary Belco Technologies Corporation (BELCO), is installing the first of its proprietary in-line, multi-engine marine scrubbers serving three auxiliary engines on two newbuild bulk carriers. DuPont has submitted a patent application for this scrubber inlet configuration which connects multiple exhaust sources at the bottom of a single in-line scrubber tower with minimal space requirements. This proprietary design minimizes turbulence and back-pressure of entering exhaust, allowing multiple exhaust streams to take advantage of a single slim in-line scrubber tower without the need for large-footprint fans or venturis. “The DuPont Marine Scrubber design has always been in-line, and now we extend our low back-pressure, no-fans philosophy to the multi-stream design.

DuPont awarded third marine scrubber order by Vulica Shipping Co. Ltd. Vulica Shipping Co. Ltd. has selected DuPont Clean Technologies for the supply of a hybrid single-stream scrubber designed by DuPont subsidiary Belco Technologies Corporation (BELCO) to be retrofitted to MV H.A. Sklenar, a self-unloading bulk carrier that operates along the Gulf of Mexico. The vessel is owned by Vulica Shipping Company Ltd., a subsidiary of Vulcan Materials. “We designed the exhaust gas scrubber tower and scrubber system so Vulica could efficiently treat the exhaust gas produced by the main diesel engine on MV H.A. Sklenar,” Garrett Billemeyer, Technology Development manager explained.

The Interlake Steamship Company’s M/V Lee A. Tregurtha sailed today from Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding Company in Sturgeon Bay, Wisc., becoming the shipper’s third self-unloading bulk carrier to be outfitted with exhaust gas scrubbers. Interlake became the first U.S.-flag fleet to test scrubbers on the Great Lakes in April 2015 after pioneering the emission-reduction technology on its M/V Hon. James L. Oberstar. Earlier this month, the M/V James R. Barker sailed as the fleet’s first 1,000-footer with scrubbers. “With the Lee A.

The M/V James R. Barker sailed Sunday from Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding Company in Sturgeon Bay, Wisc., becoming Interlake Steamship Company’s first 1,000-footer and its second self-unloading bulk carrier to be outfitted with exhaust gas scrubbers. Interlake became the first U.S.-flag fleet to test scrubbers on the Great Lakes in April 2015 after pioneering the emission-reduction technology on its M/V Hon. James L. Oberstar. “Implementing this innovative scrubber system on our 1…

Jiangsu Hantong Shipyard Heavy Industry Co. Ltd. has awarded a contract to DuPont Sustainable Solutions for the supply of its DuPont Marine Scrubber systems for two new-build, self-unloading bulk carriers. The scrubber systems were developed by Belco Technologies Corporation (BELCO), a DuPont subsidiary. Vulica Shipping Co., a wholly owned subsidiary of U.S.-based Vulcan Materials, owns the carriers, which will operate throughout the Gulf of Mexico. Each ship will feature one multi-inlet scrubber…

As vessel owners struggle over the best and most efficient means to meet stringent new emission regulations, the Interlake Steamship Company has proven phase one of emissions-reduction technology on Great Lakes;  and two additional ships are to be outfitted with exhaust gas scrubbers in 2016. Following the implementation of exhaust gas scrubbers on its self-unloading bulk carrier M/V Hon. James L. Oberstar, the Interlake Steamship Company said it plans to expand its emission-reduction efforts to one-third of its fleet by installing similar scrubber systems on the M/V Lee A.

As shipping companies struggle to find their preferred solutions for meeting strict new emission mandates, Ohio-based Interlake Steamship has found a good partner in DuPont Marine Scrubbers. Interlake awarded DuPont Sustainable Solutions, through its subsidiary Belco Technologies Corporation (BELCO), an additional contract to supply DuPont Marine Scrubber systems for two more vessels. The M/V James R. Barker, the first 1,000-ft.class vessel to be built entirely on the Great Lakes back in 1976, and the Lee A.

Following the implementation of exhaust gas scrubbers on its self-unloading bulk carrier M/V Hon. James L. Oberstar, the Interlake Steamship Company has announced its plans to expand its emission-reduction efforts to one-third of its fleet by installing similar scrubber systems on the M/V Lee A. Tregurtha and M/V James R. Barker early next year. In April 2015, Interlake became the first U.S.-flag fleet to test freshwater scrubbers on the Great Lakes when the system became operational on the 806-foot Oberstar.

Belco Technologies Corporation (BELCO), a DuPont company, will introduce the DuPont Marine Scrubber (formerly the BELCO Marine Scrubber) at shipping and maritime exhibition Nor-Shipping in Oslo. James R. Weigand, president, DuPont Sustainable Solutions, said, “Over the last year, the DuPont team transformed our earlier scrubber design to dramatically reduce operating and installed costs, while retaining the design features customers loved. By studying installed scrubber operating performance at sea…

INTERSCHALT maritime systems AG, a maritime software and services provider of loading computers on board containerships, signed a cooperation agreement with the Shanghai Ship Research and Design Institute (SDARI) in Shanghai for the provision of MACS3 loading software for containerships, bulk carriers and tankers built in Chinese shipyards using SDARI designs. MACS3 provides INTERSCHALT with an approx. 65% market share of the approx. 6,000 container ships currently in existence worldwide.

DuPont Sustainable Solutions, through its subsidiary BELCO, has been awarded a contract to supply DuPont Marine Scrubber systems to two vessels owned by Condor Ferries, a Guernsey-based company that operates year-round freight, car and passenger ferries between the Channel Islands, United Kingdom and France. DuPont will provide four, single-stream, open-loop, gas-cleaning units for Commodore Clipper and Commodore Goodwill. Exhaust gas-cleaning systems will allow the ferries to meet all IMO Annex VI sulphur requirements while continuing to operate on heavy fuel oil, DuPont said.

Belco Technologies Corporation (BELCO), a wholly owned subsidiary of DuPont, has partnered with the Maersk Group to successfully demonstrate BELCO Marine Scrubber technology aboard the Maersk Tukang, a containership with max TEU Capacity of 8,112. The BELCO Marine Scrubber was tested over six days in May 2014 as it sailed from the Port of Algeciras, Spain, to Genoa, Italy. Representatives from BELCO and Maersk were on board, along with a surveyor from the American Bureau of Shipping who was there to witness and monitor the full testing as the system awaits class certification, expected later this year. The BELCO Marine Scrubber was installed on the Tukang, in 2013 in Qingdao, China, during a scheduled drydock.

Demonstration Aboard the Maersk Taurus Containership. Belco Technologies Corporation (BELCO), a wholly owned subsidiary of DuPont, headquartered in Parsippany, N.J., USA, has reached an agreement with A.P. Moller – Maersk, headquartered in Copenhagen, Denmark, to design, manufacture and supply the BELCO advanced marine scrubbing system for demonstration on one of the auxiliary engines aboard the Maersk Taurus. The system will be designed to remain on board as a commercial installation following the successful demonstration. The BELCO Exhaust Gas Cleaning System can be used to reduce SO2 from ship engines and boilers as an economic alternative to using a more expensive low sulphur content fuel when operating in SO2 restricted areas known as emission control area (ECA) zones.

Houston Exploration announces a corporate realignment to facilitate the Company's operating strategy and growth plans. They have created two operating divisions: Onshore and offshore, which will function as strategic business units for the Company's oil and gas operations. Steve Mueller will join the Company as Senior Vice President and General Manager of the Onshore Division, a business unit currently producing 110 Mmcf/d from fields in South Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana, East Texas and West Virginia. Mueller brings over 26 years of industry experience. Most recently, Mueller was senior vice president of exploration and production at Belco Oil and Gas Company. Prior to Belco, Mr.