It is not easy to come by accurate costings for ballast water management systems (BWMS), so recent data released by two tanker operators makes for interesting reading
Accurate figures of the cost of ballast water management systems (BWMSs) are not generally made public, but two tanker operators published figures in 2017 that provide some perspective on the cash involved. Tanker Shipping and Trade is not aware of more recent data in the public domain.
In July 2017, tanker operator Euronav presented figures that included an estimate of US$1.8M per ship to fit a system (Euronav company presentation July 2017, page 25). A month earlier, the Kuwait Oil Tanker Co (KOTC) put figures on its website (http://bit.ly/TST-KOTC) that made public the precise results of an invitation to tender for ballast water treatment systems (see table).
KOTC did not spell out its criteria for awarding the contract, although Alfa Laval’s was the lowest quote. Nor did KOTC say how many ships or systems this tender was for. But Alfa Laval had earlier issued a statement saying it was going to supply 45 of its PureBallast treatment systems to a “Middle East-based tanker operator,” and Alfa Laval’s vice president responsible for its PureBallast project Anders Lindmark confirmed to TST that the KOTC tender was the contract its release referred to.
So that gives a figure of US$348,552.20 per treatment system. There will be multiple systems in each of the 22 ships, making the average price US$712,947.67 per ship. That price includes commissioning the equipment, which does not include installation but does cover crew training. Once installation costs are factored in, KOTC’s costs can be estimated to be around US$1M per ship.
No. | Bidders | Price (US$) |
1 | Alfa Laval Middle East, Dubai | 15,684,848.78 |
2 | Panasia, Korea | 15,950,000 |
3 | Calgon Carbon Corp, USA | 17,571,500 |
4 | Wärtsilä Water Systems, UK | 23,854,929 |
5 | Desmi Danmark, Denmark | Did not purchase tender documents |
Source: KOTC
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