Shipyards across the globe saw a peak in activity in the last quarter of 2015 as shipowners sprang into action. They had been spurred by Indonesia’s ratification of IMO’s Ballast Water Management Convention (BWMC) in November, which many expected would trigger its entry into force.
“What happened was that owners took their vessels to drydock ahead of their special surveys to have a BWMS installed and thus save money in the short-term,” said Stef Loffeld, projects and engineering manager at Damen Green Solutions in the Netherlands. In an exclusive summary for BWTT of the ballast water management system (BWMS) retrofit scene, Mr Loffeld said that, after Indonesia’s signature proved not to be decisive, the New Year saw attention in BWMS work fall back to low levels.
Writing in early June, however, after further ratifications pushed the convention closer towards it target of 35 per cent of global tonnage, he reported that orders are being placed again, “although it is difficult to say if this is only another peak or the real start.”
Damen Green Solutions is member of the Damen Shipyards Group and was created to provide BWMS-related services. So far, it has been involved in about 30 BWMS installations, both newbuilds and retrofits. But this is about to explode: “There is a huge amount of work coming to us,” he predicted, as part of a global demand for BWMS installations.
He set out some of the issues that managers need to bear in mind when planning to reftrofit a BWMS, starting with a detailed survey. But he underlined the importance of keeping class involved: “We are interfering in a class-approved system so any modifications will have to be approved,” he wrote.
But class societies are unlikely to hire extra staff to cover this additional work for just a few years, so it is essential to provide “the exact information that they need in order to smooth the process,” he said. Damen is working towards arrangements with class to have drawings approved within an agreed period of time.
Small companies should also consider the impact of the extra work on their already-busy superintendents, he suggested, and larger companies need to consider the impact on their technical departments’ workloads, he suggested. Yards such as Damen can support them with engineering capacity, he indicated, together with project management. “A superintendent during a special survey [with] 100 jobs going on [does not] want to have to be in contact with six or seven different parties,” he wrote.
Based on Damen Green Solutions’ experience of retrofit projects, Mr Loffeld outlined factors that should be taken into account when planning a retrofit, which extends beyond simply choosing a suitable technology.
One is footprint. Some suppliers describe only the footprint of the main equipment, yet control cabinets and piping – perhaps as big as 600mm diameter – also consume a lot of space, he pointed out. “So when you are comparing footprints you must compare the entire installation,” he said.
Power requirements for some systems can be large, he noted. “For some systems this can easily reach more than 150-200kW [and] not all vessels have such a surplus of power.” A BWMS will also increase the resistance on a ship’s pump system, which will have a negative influence on its performance – leading to either pressure or capacity loss or both. Also bear in mind that a ballast system’s performance may have reduced since the ship was new, so it should be checked during the initial survey, he advised.
Installation should not be hampered by difficult access, he said. Check whether existing routes can be used to manoeuvre the equipment into position or whether it will be necessary to cut through the shell or deck. Damen Green Solutions aims to mount the equipment onto a prefabricated skid to reduce installation time on board, but Mr Loffeld acknowledged that this involves compromising between the size of that skid and installation ease.
Finally, he reminded BWTT that the equipment must be as accessible as possible. “For engineroom crews, who already have a lot of equipment to take care of, it must not involve a course of several days for them to understand the system’s operation,” he said.
Once the equipment is installed, operator training “is absolutely crucial for the success of implementing and operating these systems” – something that is often underestimated, he said.
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