BALLAST WATER

New laws to protect UK coastlines have now come into force, which stop international ships from discharging potentially harmful species into the sea

KEEPING COASTLINES

CLEANER

The Merchant Shipping (Control and Management of Ships’ Ballast Water and Sediments) Regulations 2022 introduces legislation into UK law controlling the discharge of ships’ ballast water into UK waters.

Ballast water can contain aquatic species that are harmful to native UK ones and the legislation will stop ships from potentially releasing them on to UK coasts.

By introducing the Ballast Water Management Convention into UK law, the UK coastline will be protected from harmful aquatic species and pathogens (such as Chinese Mitten Crabs, Zebra Mussels and Portuguese oysters) that may be present within the ballast water by UK and foreign-flagged ships entering the UK after travelling internationally, the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) says.

This will help to prevent the introduction of species not yet present in the UK and make sure the colonies of those organisms that may already be present are not further supported by new introductions.

The new legislation, put forward by the MCA, is based on the international Ballast Water Management Convention, which was negotiated at the International Maritime Organization.

Katy Ware, director of UK Maritime Services for the MCA, says: “We have some of the most beautiful coastlines in the world and we all have a collective responsibility to care for it. By introducing this convention into UK law, we are protecting our coastline from potentially harmful aquatic species and pathogens, which could be discharged by ships visiting the UK.”

She adds: “Although there is a cost for operators to comply with it, the cost to our coastline if they don’t is immeasurable.”

WÄRTSILÄ CONTRACT

There have been a number of new contracts placed by companies for ballast water management systems.

Wärtsilä Water and Waste recently signed a deal with Mermaid Subsea for the

vessel Mermaid Asiana to supply an AQ-125-UVK from its Aquarius UV ballast water management system product range. The purpose-built DP2 diver support vessel, which was built in 2010 in Singapore, will install the retrofit system later this year to ensure ongoing environmental compliance with both International Maritime Organization and United States Coast Guard ballast water legislation.

The Aquarius Ultraviolet (UV) product range consists of five discreetly sized systems available in both standard and Atex variants. Comprising an automatic backwashing filter, a UV chamber and associated auxiliary items, the system ensures treatment of ballast water in line with the latest environmental regulations, in this instance a treatment capacity up to 125m3/h.

BUSY TIMES FOR BIO-UV

French UV-C water treatment specialist BIO-UV Group has received an order to supply a low-flow BIO-SEA L-Series ballast water treatment system for retrofit installation to the 1268gt expedition vessel Quest.

Maxime Dedeurwaerder, business unit director at BIO-UV Group’s maritime division, says: “This new order underscores the success of the partnership agreement we signed with TECO2030 in 2019. The BIO-SEA system fits perfectly with TECO2030’s ethos to supply environmentally sustainable, energy efficient technologies to the global shipping fleet.

“The environmental and energy efficiency of our UV-based treatment technology provides the optimum solution for expedition cruise ships operating in ecologically sensitive environments.”

Incorporating BIO-UV Group’s nextgeneration UV-reactor, the “L” range is based around a completely new type-approved UV lamp arrangement. The system is sized to guarantee full International Maritime Organization and United States Coast Guard compliance, treating flow rates of between 20m3/h and 120m3/h from one of the most compact, low-energy consuming ballast water treatment systems (BWTS) on the market.

The system retrofitted to Quest is modular to fit in the limited space available and has two lamps to treat a ballast water flow rate of 55m3/h.

“One lamp can treat ballast water flows of up to 30m3/h. A further one or two lamps can be added to the BWTS skid to deal with higher flow rates. This means reduced maintenance for the crew, fewer spare parts have to be kept onboard and as the automated UV sensors adapt to the quality of the water, energy consumption is better regulated, reducing energy consumption and preserving lamp life,” Dedeurwaerder says.

Profits up

BIO-UV Group has reported a 38% growth in BIO-SEA ballast water treatment system sales in the first half of the year, compared with the same period in 2021.

The company sold more than 100 BIO-SEA BWTS units in the first six months of the year. Demand is forecast to “remain very high” throughout the year, continuing into 2024.

The company reported half year revenues across the group’s maritime activities of €9.51m, with a current orderbook valued at €5.1m.

Commenting on the robust results, Benoît Gillmann, chairman and CEO of BIO-UV Group, says: “We continue to make progress in our maritime business development strategy. With increasing temperatures and climate change likely to result in further changes to the marine eco system, an effective and properly maintained ballast water treatment remains a vital priority for the global shipping fleet ”

Turnkey system

Last year, the BIO-UV Group introduced a new M-Series BIO-SEA BWTS for flow rates up to 2100m3/h, and earlier this year announced it now has the capability to offer complete turnkey BWTS services.

The company has ballast water treatment units for flow rates from 13m3/h up to 2100m3/h installed on a wide range of vessel types, including containerships, bulk carriers, multicargo vessels, cruise ships, passenger ferries, offshore vessels, naval ships and mega-yachts.

One recent contract involved MSC Caledonia II, which has been retrofitted with a BIO-SEA BWTS that marks the successful completion of BIO-UV Group’s first full turnkey BWTS project.

The 3,5079dwt general cargo ship was retrofitted in Port Khalid, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates, with a BIO-SEA B03-0450 FX modular system just prior to the vessel’s sale to Mediterranean Shipping Company .

The France-based UV water treatment specialist introduced its turnkey BWTS retrofit capability in October last year, with the addition of 3D laser scanning and modelling to its BIO-SEA engineering and design services.

“This new service was a fundamental to the swift completion of this time-sensitive project,” says BIOUV Group technical director Florian Cortes. “The lead time for engineering, system building, and final installation and commissioning was very tight due to the vessel’s schedule. But the pre-installation engineering work we carried out allowed the customer to prefabricate the piping elements, significantly reducing installation and drydock time.”

Caledonia was built in 2002 so inevitably some drawings were missing. The 3D laser scanning, however, provided a complete picture of the available space and helped facilitate a successful and timely installation.

“The customer was able to source all prefabricated piping ahead of the BIO-SEA installation, which is essential to the accuracy of the engineering plan and drawings we supplied. It was a very smooth installation,” says Dedeurwaerder.

The BWTS was successfully commissioned in February, after which the company’s ballast water experts trained the ship’s crew to operate and maintain a BIO-SEA system for optimum ballast water treatment performance.

A BIO-SEA modular system is specially designed for retrofit projects and can treat flow rates from 13-to2100m3/h per ballast pump. All components are delivered separately in order to adapt to the available space in the ship.