Wärtsilä Bags BWM Systems Order

Wärtsilä has received an order for its Ballast Water Management Systems (BWMS) from an undisclosed European shipping company for three container ships being built at the Jinhai Shipyard in China.

Wärtsilä said it would deliver the BWMS equipment to the first vessel at the end of 2015, and for the other two ships during 2016.

This latest contract follows the order placed last year from the same company, where Wärtsilä BWMS equipment was installed into three 2100 TEU container ships built in Asia, and which were delivered in December 2014.

Each of the three vessels will be fitted with a 500m3 capacity Wärtsilä Aquarius UV BWMS. This system utilises a two-stage approach involving filtration and medium pressure UV disinfection technology.

Wärtsilä has already obtained IMO Type Approval and Alternate Management System (AMS) acceptance from the US Coastguard (USCG) for this system, and work to achieve full USCG Type Approval for all products in the Aquarius BWMS range commenced early in 2014.

“Ballast water management is an important feature of the overall emphasis on environmentally sustainable shipping. Wärtsilä has always paid great attention to working in close cooperation with the customer to ensure that the selected system is appropriate for the ship and its operating profile, and this has been the case here as well,” says Lars Bo Kirkegaard, General Manager, BWMS Sales, Wärtsilä Ship Power.

Ballast Water was a hotly debated topic at the recent MEPC 68 meeting in London as the industry eagerly awaits ratification of the International Maritime Organisation’s (IMO) Ballast Water Convention. Several states, including Argentina, India, Belgium and Indonesia, have declared that they are in the process of ratifying this legislation.