Bawat 7779

THE BEST IN BALLAST TREATMENT TECHNOLOGY BAWAT

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BAWAT

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PROFILE

Rooted i compan challeng partner Marcus

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in Danish maritime innovation, Bawat is an engineer-driven ny with a deep understanding of ballast water treatment ges. The company’s innovative system has made it a trusted for shipowners, operators and maritime stakeholders. CEO Hummer explained more to Hannah Barnett. awat’s mission is simple: to create

B

“We can treat all water qualities, because

state-of-the-art Ballast Water Man-

heat penetrates everything,” said Marcus

agement Systems (BWMS). The Danish

Hummer, CEO. “This sets us apart. It doesn’t

company offers an innovative heat treatment

matter whether the water is fresh or salty,

solution to help the industry comply with

whether it’s hot or cold, whether its run in

strict international standards for ballast

a port or with dirty water. Our system always

water and to safeguard the ecological

works and only needs to treat the water

balance of marine ecosystems.

once. Once it’s been through our BWMS

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one time, the water’s treated and it’s comp-

the Convention criteria, and we call that

liant. In other systems, to a very large extent,

‘Ballast as a Service.’

the water needs to be treated and retreated.”

“It’s a very innovative approach to the market, and we can do it because we

Shifting the landscape

only handle the water once. Other current

Bawat was established in 2011 with the vision

technologies will not allow for that.”

to revolutionise ballast water management

Bawat is developing a ballast water

through sustainable, simple and cost-effective

compliance network across the ports of

solutions. The idea was to create an alternate

Northern Europe. The goal is to ensure that

response to the protections established by

vessel operators can run their vessels more

the Ballast Water Management Convention

efficiently than ever, without lost time due to

of 2004.

challenging water conditions or poor water

“Our competitors looked at how water is

treatment systems.

treated on shore and then converted that into a marine application, we did the complete opposite, we looked at vessel operation and reality and innovated from there,” said Mr Hummer. “That’s how we came up with the innovative idea of using heat.”

The company operates across three core business pillars, all using the same proven heat-based technology. The first is a shipbased BWMS, designed for both newbuilds and retrofits, utilising waste heat from onboard systems. The second is a mobile, containerised BWMS — an adaptable solution ideal for multi-site operations. The third is Bawat BaaS (Ballast as a Service), which enables vessels to have their ballast water treated at onshore port reception facilities.

“The reality is a lot of water being

Showcasing the strength of its technology, in 2023, Bawat provided equipment to

discharged not living up to the discharge

test water in the Great Lakes in the US.

criteria set out by the Convention, which

The project was of particular significance

is where our third business pillar comes

because the Lakes are where the ballast

in,” explained Mr Hummer. “Our customers

water challenge originates; zebra mussels

can deliver their untreated ballast water

having been introduced with ballast water

to our port reception facility. We treat it,

in the 1980s, to the detriment of marine

making sure that the water lives up to

environment and infrastructure.

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“Nobody had ever run a good test with known technologies in the Great Lakes,” Mr Hummer said. “Chlorination systems don’t work because of the fresh water. And UV systems don’t work because there’s too much turbidity in the water. There used to be a large test facility for ballast water in the Great Lakes, but it was shut down because no technologies could pass with the local water. But we tested there and were the first technology that ever passed with flying colours.”

Design genius As part of the second pillar, Bawat has set a new standard in BWMS by offering mobile treatment services. These can occur from a dockside container, through barges or having been temporarily installed on a vessel. The mobile unit is manufactured and built by the esteemed Damen Shipyards from the Netherlands.

“This is a very good example of what Damen can do in terms of scaling up, and what we can do in terms of technology, creating a successful joint venture,” Mr Hummer reflected. “Together, we have brought the solution to market.”

The Bawat technology works completely independently of water quality, with no mechanical filtering or chemicals, and with the highly innovative one-pass method.

This allows for a very efficient system.

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“There are all kinds of marine infrastructure out there using ballast water that do not, or cannot, have a ballast water system installed,” said Mr Hummer. “They can access our mobile system either as a service, or they can rent a unit. This has opened up a market sector for us, besides the traditional installation of equipment on board vessels.”

The partnership with Damen is also an indication of the company’s international prowess. Bawat is a Copenhagen-based business, stock listed in Sweden, with a global sales network of agents situated in the most relevant maritime hubs across

Here to stay

the globe. The simplicity of the product

It is no surprise that the road to develop such

design certainly allows the solution to be

solutions involved plenty of investment into

applicable worldwide.

R&D. During that phase, Bawat also explored

“We’re an engineering company,” Mr

the possibilities of suffocating invasive

Hummer said. “All our competitors manu-

species with nitrogen – with some success.

facture equipment. Our model has always

“Then we introduced heat, because we

been to make sure that our solution is

knew that excess heat would take off

composed of standardised maritime parts.

the bacteria part of the ballast water,”

Sometimes customers have bought parts

Mr Hummer explained. “And during those

from our competitors, and they feel they

tests, we found out that that heat actually

need a chemical engineering degree to run

kills everything. In the end, we found that

it. Our technology features familiar parts

simply by using heat, we had a very efficient

that are already on-board vessels.”

killing machine.”

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As a company that does none of its

important to make sure that it’s a win-win

own manufacturing, Bawat relies heavily

situation for suppliers, for us and for our

on hardware from suppliers. This means

customers. That is how to build a strong

strong and trustworthy relationships

supply chain.”

throughout the supply chain are absolutely

“I come from a large corporate background,

vital for the success of the company.

and in this role, I really appreciate being close

“Especially in the beginning, we were

to our suppliers, our customers and to the

a company that knew a lot about how to

market,” said Mr Hummer, in conclusion.

kill things in water, but not a company that

“We are a small company, building with a ‘can

had a lot of maritime insight, and that has

do’ attitude. I think that’s very rewarding.

been part of the innovative adventure for

“As a team, we make sure that our clients

us,” said Mr Hummer. “It has meant we had

and the market understand what differenti-

to work closely with both sub-suppliers and

ates us. We are succeeding, we are growing,

customers to assess their needs. It’s very

and we are here to stay.”

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