Finnish manufacturer Wärtsilä has received an order to fit its Ballast Water Management Systems (BWMS) in three new container ships being built for a major European shipping company at the Jinhai Shipyard, China.
Wärtsilä will deliver the BWMS equipment to the first vessel at the end of 2015, and for the other two ships during 2016.
Each of the three vessels will be fitted with a 500 m3 capacity Wärtsilä Aquarius UV BWMS. This system utilises a two-stage approach involving filtration and medium pressure ultraviolet (UV) disinfection technology.
Ballast Water was a hotly debated topic at the recent MEPC 68 meeting in London as the industry eagerly awaits ratification of the International Maritime Organisation’s (IMO) Ballast Water Convention.
Several states, including Argentina, India, Belgium and Indonesia, have declared that they are in the process of ratifying this legislation.
The IMO Secretary General has reiterated that as the barriers to ratification are being discussed and answers developed, the Ballast Water Convention should be ratified before the end of this year.
Suppliers with robust ballast water management systems have already began the application process for USCG (United States Coastguard) type approval.
Wärtsilä said it has already obtained International Maritime Organization (IMO) Type Approval and Alternate Management System (AMS) acceptance from the US Coastguard (USCG) for this system, and work to achieve full USCG Type Approval for all products in the Aquarius BWMS range commenced early in 2014.
This latest contract follows the order placed last year from the same company, where WärtsiläBWMS equipment was installed into three 2100 TEU container ships built in Asia, and which were delivered in December 2014.
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