Danish ballast water treatment system manufacturer Bawat has shipped a mobile version of its pasteurising system to a port in Belgium
In the world of ballast water treatment systems, Bawat’s use of ship’s engine waste heat to pasteurise ballast water is a very different approach to ballast water management and the company has modulised the system into a standard shipping container. One of those containers is now on the way to a port in Belgium.
At the end of 2019, Bawat’s BWMS was granted IMO type-approval. The type-approval certification was issued by Lloyd’s Register on behalf of the Danish Maritime Authority and makes the Bawat system one of the first to be tested and issued with approval under the new toughened mandatory requirements of the IMO’s BWMS Code, officially known as the Code for Approval of Ballast Water Management Systems.
“To be one of the first systems to be awarded type-approval under these new tougher conditions is a confirmation of the hard work we have put into what is the most sustainable treatment system on the market,” said Bawat chief executive Marcus Hummer. “It gives our customers the confidence that we have a product for their future needs.”
Bawat’s system design is said to be unique in using a vessel’s own waste heat from the main engine or other heat sources to neutralise through pasteurisation any organisms in the ballast water.
“It does not require any chemicals, filters or energy consuming ultra-violet lights,” added Mr Hummer.
By using pasteurisation, the Bawat system can be used to treat ballast water in all water conditions, regardless of salinity, turbidity and temperatures, and has no holding time restrictions. Water is treated in one pass only.
The system is also unique as components such as the heat exchangers and pumps are all standard components found on board vessels today, and therefore well known to crew.
The Bawat BWMS has the ability to do in-voyage treatment, which is not unique in the BWMS industry, but does allow uninterrupted cargo and ballasting operations.
The simplicity and effectiveness of the Bawat system has impressed new investors who backed Bawat as it prepares to begin installing systems on both newbuilds and retrofits. Speaking to Ballast Water Treatment Technology in 2018, Bawat’s then chief executive Kim Diederichsen said the company could offer financial support through the Danish Export Credit Agency.
But he added, “as the Bawat BWMS is probably the most sustainable BWMS on the market, the Danish Green Investment Fund also offers funding to Danish customers.”
Under IMO’s ballast water convention all vessels need to have a ballast water treatment system on board to meet the D2 standards. All newbuilding vessels need to enter service with a system installed and operational, and all existing vessels will in the coming years be required to have systems retrofitted as they have their certificates renewed.
“There are thousands of vessels that will require effective, simple and efficient solutions installed between now and 2024 when the last IMO deadline comes around,” said Mr Hummer. “For some owners the schedule will be tough and if taken at the last minute, costly. An easy to install, easy to manage, and net-zero energy consuming system is going to make sense”.
Bawat is also waiting to hear from the US Coast Guard which has been putting the system through its own type-approval system and is expects to get confirmation in the near future.
Ballast water treatment does not stop with compliance. Industry’s stakeholders discuss the issues in the Ballast Water Treatment Beyond Compliance webinar, which is now available to view
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