Wärtsilä Aquarius UV Ballast Water Management System chosen for retrofitting to four Korean vessels
The technology group Wärtsilä will supply its Aquarius UV Ballast Water Management System (BWMS) for four bunkering ocean tanker vessels operated by South Korea’s Doorae Shipping. This is the first ever BWMS retrofit contract signed by Wärtsilä in Korea. The order was placed in July by PanStar TechSolution, the main contractor for the project. PanStar TechSolution is a leading Korean engineering and technical company specialising in BWMS and exhaust gas cleaning system (EGCS) retrofit projects.
The retrofitting will allow the vessels to be in compliance with the International Maritime Organization’s (IMO) Ballast Water Management Convention, which is applicable to existing vessels by their next special survey after September 2019. The regulation aims at preventing the spread of harmful aquatic organisms from one region to another, and halting damage to the marine environment from ballast water discharge.
“The design of the Wärtsilä BWMS solutions provides maximum flexibility during system design and installation. Key components are positioned to suit available space, which is a major advantage in retrofit projects such as this. We already work closely with Doorae Shipping because of the maintenance agreement we have with them, and we are very pleased to have been selected against tough competition to supply the BWMS solutions,” says Woo Ho Yoo, General Manager, Services, Wärtsilä Korea.
“We have had good experience with the service provided by Wärtsilä, and we appreciate the reliable support that they have given us. The Aquarius UV BWMS has excellent references and is the right choice for us,” says Hyung-Jung Cheon, President & CEO, Doorae shipping Co., Ltd.
The Wärtsilä equipment is scheduled for delivery commencing in August 2020. Wärtsilä currently maintains and services the engines of six ships in the Doorae fleet under a five-year agreement signed in November 2017.
The Wärtsilä Aquarius UV BWMS is based on a two-stage treatment process using proven and validated system components. Upon uptake, seawater is first passed through a back washing screen type filter. The filtered seawater then passes through a UV chamber where ultra-violet light is used to disinfect the water before entering the ballast tank. On discharge, water from the ballast tank is pumped through the UV chamber for a second time to complete the disinfection process prior to discharge.
The system has been granted US Coastguard (USCG) Type Approval. With the company’s other BWMS technology, the Wärtsilä Aquarius EC, already Type Approved by USCG, Wärtsilä is the first manufacturer able to offer two USCG Type Approved BWMS technologies. The Wärtsilä Aquarius EC (Electro-Chlorination) system features a simple two-stage process involving filtration and electro-chlorination across the full scope of a ship’s operating and environmental conditions. In addition to the USCG approvals, both technologies have also been awarded Type Approval by the International Maritime Organization (IMO).
