In the eight years since the Norwegian environmental specialist MMC Green Technology set up a separate company dedicated to developing ballast water management systems (BWMSs), it has sold about 120 systems worldwide with about 100 already installed on a wide range of vessel types.
Last year was a particularly busy time for the company, which began with a contract for two units to be installed in one of the world’s largest and most luxurious mega yachts. They were sent to the yard for installation towards the end of the year.
It was a particularly demanding project, especially because details such as the system’s surface treatment and finish were important factors, but it showed that the yacht market is clearly a segment to focus on in the future.
Passenger ships have also featured in MMC’s recent orders when Vard Vung Tau in Vietnam ordered a compact MMC BWMS system for an expedition cruise ship for the Australian shipping company Coral Expeditions. It was the fifth in a series of orders from Vard Group shipyards.
MMC is also providing a BWMS to Ulstein in Norway which is building a hybrid ropax vessel for Color Line, which will enter into service in 2019. This was the eighth MMC BWMS Ulstein has ordered from MMC Green Technology.
Another passenger vessel that will be fitted with an MMC BWMS is a Brittany Ferries newbuilding on order at Flensburger shipyard. This is MMC’s third order from the German yard.
Fishing vessels, aquaculture support craft and windfarm service ships have also brought orders to MMC. For example, in early December MMC signed a contract to deliver 20 BWMSs to live fish carriers, making the manufacturer the world-leading BWMS supplier to this segment.
Larsnes Mekaniske Verksted has so far ordered five MMC BWMS for aquaculture vessels and five more were ordered by Aas Mekaniske Verksted for live fish carriers for Sølvtrans. Kleven Myklebust Verft ordered two BWMSs for the same shipowner.
MMC signed two orders last year with Fitjar Mekaniske Verksted, one for a new vessel that the Norwegian Coastal Administration has on order at the yard and one for a salmon transport vessel for the shipowner Napier. These were MMC’s first contracts with that yard and are clear proof that MMC was right to develop very compact models for low capacities.
Its ultra-compact 50 m3/hr MMC BWMS can handle flow down to 5 m3/hr and the manufacturer expects it to be a success on small ships with limited need for ballast treatment.
Retrofits have also brought MMC some significant work in recent months. These include SolstadFarstad’s anchor handling vessel Normand Ferking and Olympic Subsea’s Olympic Intervention IV. That job was done in Gibraltar and was the last of five retrofits from Olympic Subsea’s fleet.
The seismic company Sanco has chosen MMC BWMS on all its ships, starting in 2011 for two newbuildings at Kleven Myklebust. In mid-2017 the operator decided to retrofit BWMSs to three more ships and again turned to MMC for its equipment.
Work on the first of the trio, Sanco Spirit, is featured as a case study in the 2018 edition of the Ballast Water Treatment Technology guide.
While all this work has been going on, MMC has been working on certification for US Coast Guard and IMO’s revised G8 standards and is well on track towards those goals.
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