Optimarin expands market reach in Spanish tie-up with Llalco
Optimarin is eyeing a Spanish market fiesta for its leading ballast water treatment system (BWTS) after bringing onboard Madrid-based Llalco Fluid Technology to boost regional sales, according to the company's release.
Llalco has been appointed to act as agent for Optimarin under a newly minted agreement that will significantly expand the Norwegian ballast water treatment specialist’s global market reach into the Iberian Peninsula and South America.
Llalco, founded in 1997, has a strong track record in delivering a range of marine technologies - including ballast water treatment, corrosion protection and scrubbers - designed to protect the environment for the shipping industry. It is also a supplier to the rail industry.
Its chief executive Javier Llamas sees the partnership with Optimarin as a significant upgrade on Llalco’s product and service offering in the area of ballast water treatment, having introduced the first such solution into the Spanish market 15 years ago.
Optimarin’s advanced modular BWTS uses automatic back flushing, self-cleaning filters and powerful UV irradiation to neutralise all potentially invasive species before release from ballast tanks into seawater.
The system, which has gained key EX approvals from the IMO and US Coast Guard, is designed for simplicity, operational flexibility, redundancy and reliability with highly competitive lifecycle costs as shipowners pursue compliance with the IMO’s ballast water convention ahead of a 2024 deadline.
The BWTS has demonstrated proven performance from over 800 systems installed worldwide after Optimarin pioneered development of the first commercial system back in 2000, with another 1100-plus systems on order.
Much of this demand is based on vessel retrofits as the system’s modular design makes it flexible and easy to install on any vessel.
Optimarin has so far this year notched up orders for more than 100 BWTSs as it rides a wave of vessel retrofits due to the need for operators to gain regulatory compliance for their fleets.
The reorientation of the shipping industry towards environment-friendly operations is set to underpin further ordering activity for Optimarin’s system going forward, bolstered by the latest Spanish market expansion.
