First Japanese-Made Ballast Water Management System to Be Put into Commercial Use

Copyright Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha

Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha (NYK Line) announced on June 24, 2010, that it will install a ballast water management system called JFE BallastAce, which was developed by the JFE Engineering Corp. on one of its pure car carriers. The JFE BallastAce is the first Japanese-made system of its kind to be put into commercial application after the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism approved the model. The installation will be performed in August 2010 while the vessel is in dry dock.

Ballast water is the seawater carried by a ship in a tank underneath the ship to keep its balance. The seawater is usually pumped into the tank at the unloading port and discharged at the loading port. Ballast water management systems (BWMSs) treat marine organisms contained in ballast water so as not to disturb the ecosystem where the water is discharged. Installation of BWMSs on all oceangoing ships will be required to satisfy the treatment standards provided in the ballast water management convention adopted in 2004. When the convention takes effect, the ships that are subject to regulation will be expanded successively to include newly constructed ships and existing ships, in that order, by January 2017.

Prior to the enforcement of the convention, NYK Line considered the installation of BWMS on its ships as part of the company's environmental efforts. After thorough examination, NYK Line decided to adopt the JFE BallastAce based on its reliability and future potential. The system was jointly developed from the demonstration experiment phase with NYK's subsidiary, the Monohakobi Technology Institute. This JFE system will be the first BWMS to be installed on an NYK fleet vessel.

Ballast Water Management System, JFE BallastAce
http://www.nyk.com/english/release/788/
NE_100624.html

Posted: 2010/09/16 06:00:15 AM