Published by The Maritime Executive

Published by The Maritime Executive

Published by The Maritime Executive

Published by The Maritime Executive

Published Jan 26, 2023 2:55 PM by DESMI

If a ballast water management system does not comply with current regulations, this can have serious consequences for your business. Replacing it with a DESMI CompactClean solution gives you reliable and cost-effective compliance, even in the long term – and for most replacement projects, solution engineering is included in the price.

With a ballast water management system (BWMS) on board, your ship should be compliant with the IMO’s BWM Convention, but in fact some existing BWMS are not good enough. Some are unreliable, and some are simply not compliant with the current rules.

“We often hear about issues with older BWMS on ships,” says Sales Director Christian Busch of DESMI Ocean Guard. “Some of them do not comply with the rules defined by the US Coast Guard or the IMO. Some shipowners have installed BWMS, expecting that the systems would receive approval, only to discover that they didn’t actually get it. Other systems don’t perform according to the customer’s expectations, or they are unreliable. And when you want to do something about it, the manufacturer may have gone out of business, making it difficult or impossible to keep your system running.”

The consequences of non-compliance or breakdowns are severe. Several countries are gradually ramping up BWMS inspections, and if a Port State Control Officer finds you have discharged non-compliant ballast water, you risk sizable fines. Even worse, if there is a fault with your system and you cannot discharge ballast water in port, you cannot take new cargo on board, and you risk losing business.

Replacing a non-compliant BWMS with a DESMI CompactClean solution is a good way of bringing your ship in line with the BWM Convention and staying operational. More than 1,500 solutions are already operating around the world, and more are put into operation daily. Operational issues or breakdowns are very rare with the CompactClean systems, and they are considered robust and reliable. If problems do occur, DESMI Ocean Guard’s global service network can quickly inspect and repair the BWMS in most major ports worldwide.

The compact and modular inline solution is available with several design and installation options; for example, you can get CompactClean as loose components or as a skid-mounted or containerized solution.

On most replacement projects, DESMI Ocean Guard includes all necessary engineering work if you select a CompactClean solution. This includes all the drawings, diagrams, and other information needed for your preferred shipyard to carry out the replacement and make it work on your ship.

“We have years of experience with UV and filtration systems,” explains Rasmus Folsø, CEO at DESMI Ocean Guard. “In most cases, an existing inline UV system with filtration can quickly be replaced with a CompactClean solution because the footprint of the CompactClean is very small, and because we can usually adapt pipework and wiring as required. Chemical dosing systems or slipstream solutions are often more complex, and in such cases, we do not always include all engineering. But our experience shows that replacing a UV system is often a relatively simple process.”

3D Scan of the BWMS installation (DESMI)

A partner with staying power

DESMI Ocean Guard has decades of experience with BWMS and is an expert in the field. The company is part of the DESMI Group which offers a wide range of solutions for the marine and offshore market, plus solutions for industry, defense, environmental protection, and utility applications. This gives DESMI Ocean Guard the solidity and diversity needed to stay in business and be able to offer spare parts, service, maintenance, and good advice for the foreseeable future.

“Ironically, the fact that DESMI doesn’t just work with BWMS is a guarantee of staying power for our ballast water customers,” comments Rasmus Folsø. “We have been in business for almost 190 years, and today we are a large company with activities in several business areas, giving us the solidity to stay afloat in a changing market. We’ll still be here when the current wave of BWMS installations and replacements subsides in just over a year, and our customers can rely on our service and support in the long term.”

A cost-effective path to compliance

Even if an existing BWMS can be upgraded for compliance, this is not always the best strategy. “Some existing systems can be upgraded, but I have heard of cases where the upgrade costs are higher than the price of a brand-new CompactClean system,” concludes Christian Busch. “And now that we are including engineering for most replacement projects, selecting CompactClean is an even more cost-effective way of ensuring compliance with the BWM Convention.”

This article is sponsored by DESMI. For more information about DESMI Ocean Guard’s water ballast management systems, please visit: Ballast Water Management Systems | DESMI - Proven technology (desmioceanguard.com) 

The opinions expressed herein are the author's and not necessarily those of The Maritime Executive.

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