Another ballast water treatment system has been type-approved by the USCG, the fifth to be type-approved this year
Following IMO type-approval in May, the EVAC Evolution ballast water treatment system has been given USCG type-approval and brings the number of USCG type-approved system to 20.
The system has been designed by Cathelco, which has been part of Evac Group since May 2018.
The system is manufactured by Cathelco and attained USCG Alternate Management Systems (AMS) acceptance for its original BWMS over four years ago.
According to the designers, when it became apparent that the USCG’s definition of ‘non-viable’ would become the universal standard for testing systems, Cathelco redesigned its equipment and embarked on another round of land-based and shipboard testing which was successfully completed last year.
“We are delighted to have achieved USCG type-approval which represents the culmination of many years’ work. As a second generation system, the Evac Evolution enables customers to benefit from the latest technical advances combined with experience gained with earlier version installations stretching back over almost a decade”, said Evac Group’s chief technology officer Lauri Laaksonen.
The Evac Evolution BWMS is based on a combination of filtration and UV technology and incorporates a feedback loop assessment on the measurement of UV transmission which determines precise dosage.
The system automatically adjusts to different seawater qualities in harbours and estuaries ensuring the optimum UV dosage is applied at all times but saves power whenever possible.
“We set the objective of achieving effectiveness down to 55% UVT in all salinities and we have adopted linear scaling which means it will work on all types of vessels”, said Cathelco’s technical director Robert Field.
The ballast water management system has been incorporated into an Evac Complete Cleantech Solution package for a new vessel being built for Quark Expeditions, the leading operator of polar exploration cruises.
Designed to carry up to 200 passengers, the vessel will be built by Brodosplit in Croatia and is scheduled to launch in 2020.
Quark Expeditions vessels sail in some of the most fragile environmental areas and it is committed to being one of the most environmentally friendly operators.
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