Damen’s InvaSave in-the-box ballast water treatment technology allows a tanker’s non-compliant ballast water to be treated in port
The InvaSave mobile ballast water treatment system from Damen Green Solutions demonstrated its ability to help vessels to meet the incoming D2 standard. All vessels are required to comply with the standard which came into force on 8 September 2019.
The InvaSave crew teamed up with local environmental services provider Tradebe Santander to receive ballast water from a tanker in Gijon. What appears to be a relatively simple exercise has significant ramifications for all operational vessels – particularly older ships which might not financially justify retrofitting a compliant ballast water treatment system.
As IMO’s Ballast Water Management Convention is extended to cover existing vessels in addition to newbuilds, vessel owners must address their processes for taking on or discharging ballast water. By the time of their first IOPP certificate renewal following the 8 September 2019 deadline, all vessels will be required to meet IMO-D2 standards regarding ballast water treatment.
“InvaSave provides a mobile and flexible solution to this requirement,” said Damen Green’s representative Matthijs Schuiten, “meeting market demand without causing operational delays. If a vessel is unable to discharge its ballast water, the loss of income through downtime, compounded by additional port costs, has a huge impact on the vessel owner’s bottom line. The efficiency of InvaSave’s model also potentially saves owners months of downtime waiting for a retrofit.”
Damen has been offering the InvaSave solution for over five years, launching the InvaSave 300 in 2017 and improving its functionality in preparation for the introduction of this latest legislation. Damen believes that following the successful demonstrations of the InvaSave capability in Lisbon on 16 and 17 May 2019, this latest exercise in Gijon provides final confirmation that InvaSave is ready and able to help vessel owners adapt to the latest regulatory demands.
The InvaSave 300 IMO-certified system is an external ballast water treatment unit that in a single pass uses mechanical filtration and ultraviolet radiation to remove and eradicate invasive organisms from ballast water as it is discharged from inbound vessels, to IMO-D2 standards. InvaSave can also provide ballast water of the same quality to outbound vessels.
Damen Green Solutions uses these reception jobs to further train clients and Damen staff in the ballast water reception service operation. The entire system comes in a single, 40 ft container and so is fully mobile; ideal for placing on a barge, workboat or trailer for easy movement around a port, harbour or shipyard.
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