Damen signs up ERMA FIRST to supply world’s smallest Ballast Water Treatment System
ERMA FIRST will be supplying oneTANK to Netherlands-based shipbuilding and engineering experts, Damen. oneTANK, which is the world’s smallest Ballast Water Treatment System (BWTS), uses chemical injection methods to clean ships’ ballast water and therefore represents an important expansion of Damen’s Ballast Water Treatment System portfolio, according to ERMA FIRST's release.
Damen Green Solutions has a broad selection of Ballast Water Treatment Systems in its range. These offer ship-owners various capacities and techniques in treating their ballast water. With the addition of the ERMA FIRST oneTANK, Damen can provide clients with a solution that is not only small, but also modular.
This modularity will be particularly important in Damen’s first project with ERMA FIRST, where the client was looking for a plug-and-play ballast water treatment product that could be placed on the deck of its vessel.
“Our client needed a temporary Ballast Water Treatment Solution for quite an old vessel,” explains Damen Sales Manager, Rutger van Dam. “ERMA FIRST’s oneTANK is small enough to be housed in a twenty-foot container. This means that installation will be quite straightforward and, more importantly, at the end of the vessel’s operational life, the whole system can be removed and installed on another vessel.”
To treat a vessel’s ballast water, the fully-certified ERMA FIRST oneTANK uses an 8.25% or 12.5% sodium hypochlorite and 30% sodium thiosulfate solution, with both chemicals being neutralised after use. “For owners working with workboats, superyachts and pontoons (smaller vessels) that are not dependent on frequent ballast operations, oneTANK is a great solution,” continues Van Dam.
oneTANK is a small scale innovative, low-cost, fully automated, IMO Revised G8 Code and United States Coast Guard compliant system. Also, its mixing technology is developed and patented by U.S. Geological Survey. “The oneTANK system is a game-changer for all size and type of vessels with space limitations, struggling to comply with stringent ballast water regulations. Hence, oneTANK is the ultimate solution for larger vessels’ aftpeak tanks as well as for smaller vessels, such as workboats, tugboats, semi-submersibles, fishing vessels and superyachts” says Konstantinos Dimopoulos, International Sales Manager.
The fact that ERMA FIRST is a Greek company is another significant aspect about the contract. Throughout the world, Damen has been involved ‘national ship building’ projects that have combined Damen’s own shipbuilding expertise with the capabilities of local industries and workforce.
“We don’t just build ships in our own yards – we can also help our clients build their vessels in the yard of their choice in collaboration with its local industry,” says Damen’s Industrial Participation Manager, Marijke Winiarski. “Contracts like this with ERMA FIRST are exemplary of Damen’s approach towards the involvement of local industries in our projects, paving the way for local companies to benefit from Damen’s international opportunities, whilst simultaneously helping Damen to develop new partnerships, such as this one with ERMA FIRST.”
