Solutions for Ballast Water Treatment

Newbuild, Retrofit or a Pioneering Mobile Ballast Water Treatment Unit - Damen Has BWT Solutions for Every Vessel

Damen started to address the ballast water treatment challenge several years ago, investing in the development of its products and by employing specialists. Subsequently, Damen has established a Ballast Water Centre of Excellence at its headquarters in Gorinchem.

With at least 70,000 vessels needing to comply with international ballast water treatment legislation in the near future, Damen now offers a range of cost-effective options for shipowners from retrofitting to a pioneering mobile ballast water treatment unit, which is the first in the world.

"We have been looking into what we can do to help our customers regarding ballast water treatment and finding alternatives for those owners that may not want to retrofit a ballast water treatment system, perhaps because their ships operate on fixed routes or their ships are too old to make the investment in a system prohibitively expensive," Gert Jan Oude Egberink, Damen Manager Ballast Water Treatment, says. "Harbours may also need to provide back-up, in case a ship's onboard treatment systems fail."

Mobile BTWU

In a project designed for the Wadden Sea National Park in the Netherlands, which is a protected UNESCO World Heritage Site, Damen has teamed up with Groningen Seaports Authority to develop a mobile treatment reception vessel to keep alien species out of the Wadden Sea. Other partners include the Dutch marine research institutes Imares & MEA-NL, Van Gansewinkel, Wagenborg and Evers Manders.

With its development partially subsidised by the Waddenfonds, an organisation focusing on the preservation of the Wadden area, the treatment vessel is expected to enter service in the ports of Eemshaven and Delfzijl in 2015.

The ballast water treatment system deployed on the vessel is fully containerised and is currently being certified by the Dutch Flag State. The treatment system was successfully tested in the Wadden Sea and the IJsselmeer, where the water is very challenging.

The new vessel has a ballast water treatment system with a capacity of 600 m3/h, but each container handles 300 m3/h, so it also easy to scale up if required.

A vessel needing to discharge its ballast water can connect to the treatment vessel and discharge its ballast water over the containerised treatment unit, which then processes and discharges it at sea. Damen can also deliver the system as a separate mobile container, which can be put on board or moved around the harbour on a truck. The unique Damen mobile treatment technology is very cost effective because it allows ballast water only to be treated at the point of discharge.

Normally, BWT systems installed on board also need to treat ballast water at intake.

"This is all in-house technology and is very simple to use - essentially it is a plug & play system in one container. Vessels only need to have a deck connection. Using this mobile treatment unit, owners and operators will be fully compliant with both the IMO and US regulations."

Newbuild & retrofitting solutions

For its own new built vessels and its retrofitting service, Damen has been evaluating the many different ballast water technologies. Currently, there are approximately 35 IMO type approved BWT systems available on the market.

"During our research we have found that not one BWT technology suits all vessels," Oude Egberink explains. "It depends on their trading routes, the power consumption etc. We have chosen to focus on the most environmentally friendly technologies available. For cost effectiveness and standardisation reasons we have chosen to work with selected preferred suppliers of type approved systems to cover the whole range of vessels."

Source: Marine Offshore Technology

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• Treatment
• Ballast Water
• Solutions