In marked contrast to other sectors, uptake of ballast water management systems in the offshore sector is uneven. Craig Jallal explores why this is the case and the challenges facing the offshore market
In marked contrast to other sectors, uptake of ballast water management systems in the offshore sector is uneven. Craig Jallal explores why this is the case and the challenges facing the offshore market
While the take up of BWMSs among the wider global shipping fleet is reluctantly consistent, the offshore sector remains an area where BWMS adoption is uneven.
So why is that and what are the challenges in this particular market?
The obvious challenges are the space limitations onboard the smaller offshore support vessels (OSVs) such as anchor handling tug supply vessels (AHTSs) and platform support vessels (PSVs), and the sheer volume of ballast water exchange required over a short period of time for mobile offshore drilling units (MODUs).
What surprises me is an argument that AHTSs and PSVs do not require BWMSs based on the fact that their work is generally confined to a specific geographic region. Basically, the argument is that a large AHTS built and designed for the North Sea, for instance, will spend its working lifetime in the region, and therefore does not require a BWMS, which work to prevent the spread of invasive species between different ecosystems.
At least one BWMS manufacturer has refuted this argument, saying that it had fitted BWMSs to a wide range of offshore vessels from AHTSs to MODUs specifially because the offshore units do frequent other regions, with North Sea vessels shifting to the Middle East or the US Gulf as demand requires.
Unfortunately, the lack of an easily accessible database of the installation of ballast water systems on vessels hampers anything other than an anecdotal comparison of uptake among the deep sea commercial fleet versus the offshore fleet.
One clear factor limiting BWMS installation in offshore vessels is the sector’s well-known financial hardship. Following the mid-decade oil price collapse, the offshore vessel sector has been suffering an earnings depression for several years running and, though it has picked up a bit lately, remains plagued by over-supply.
In fact, the offshore support market is so heavily over-subscribed, that there are 1,750 AHTSs and PSVs in layup, and utilisation has fallen to 52% of the total fleet. As an example, according to those who follow the market, there are only around 20 active rigs a year in the US Gulf, and many have left for more active waters in South America.
Faced with below break-even earnings, the prospect of retrofitting a ballast water treatment system to an offshore support vessel could be enough to consign the vessel to the recycling yard. Of course, the expense of fitting a BWMS would only be one factor in sending an offshore support vessel to the scrap yard, but as a catalyst it would reduce supply and benefit the fleet in the long-term.
I would like to hear your take on the subject: what are the issues of fitting/retrofitting BWMSs to offshore vessels, and what is the reason behind the slow take up of BWMS among the offshore sector? Email me at craig.jallal@rivieramm.com
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