Wärtsilä to Retrofit Bernhard Schulte’s Containerships

German shipowner Bernhard Schulte GmbH & Co. KG has hired Wärtsilä to retrofit its eleven container vessels with Wärtsilä Aquarius Ballast Water Management Systems (BWMS).

Wärtsilä said that the contract was signed in July and that it is one of the largest single retrofit contracts thus far issued for BWMS solutions.

The eleven vessels to be retrofitted are managed by the affiliate Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement through its offices in Greece, Hong Kong, India and Singapore. All are container carriers and range in size from 2,600 TEU to 5,600 TEU.

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Delivery of the Wärtsilä systems will commence this year and will be completed in 2017 and the ‘Cap Ines’ containership is scheduled to be the first of the Bernhard Schulte fleet to be retrofitted with a Wärtsilä BWMS solution.

This significant order is a clear indication that the major ship owners are actively securing procurement for quality BWMS in anticipation of ratification of the IMO’s ballast water treaty. Wärtsilä has both experience and deep know-how in this field, and can offer reliability and long term support to ensure that customers have the optimal solution for their specific needs. We are grateful to our agents in Germany, Wilhelm Rump KG, for their valuable assistance in finalising this contract,” says Joe Thomas, Director, Ballast Water Management Systems, Wärtsilä Marine Solutions.

According to Bernhard Schulte, following the successful implementation of BWMS on the newbuildings delivered since 2012, as well as two pilot retrofits on older tonnage, the company decided to proceed in a proactive manner for the fleet in operation.

The company has 38 ships scheduled for BWMS retrofit over the next 5 years.