CleanBallast bolsters world’s most efficient container vessels. North America's leading containership owner Seaspan, with a fleet serving customers in Asia, Europe and South America, caused quite a stir when it showcased its revolutionary SAVER (Seaspan Action on Vessel Energy Reduction) design of 10,000 TEU container vessels. Pursuing the aim of top-efficiency ship operation and improved operational performances, Seaspan has now decided to equip its Saver class vessels with RWO’s ballast water treatment system CleanBallast. The delivery of the first plant to China’s Jiangsu New Yangzi shipyard is set for March 2013 where installation will take place.
After reaching agreement, both parties were clearly satisfied with the excellent collaboration and result. “Ballast water treatment is a tough financial pill for ship owners to swallow, a lot of money invested with no return other than environmental compliance.We have invested significant time and expertise to research repeatedly what our best option would be. Not just in cost, but reliability, efficacy and quality, too.We are very happy with our choice of CleanBallast, and value the good partnership with this high-quality manufacturer”, commented Peter Curtis, Chief Operating Officer of Seaspan Corporation on the deal. “The innovative Saver container ship design definitely deserves an advanced, reliable and sustainable treatment concept, which RWO could deliver at its best.”
For RWO, the contract is a highlight in the company’s steadily growing ballast water treatment business - and the new contract marks a very good start in a promising year 2013. “Having been awarded this prestigious order, after a long road of comparison and intensive research by the customer, and adding Seaspan also as a customer for our CleanBallast system shows us that our technology is absolutely the right system of choice for owners who want to be really prepared for the future of ballast water treatment”, said Peter Wolf, Director Sales & Marketing of RWO.
The CleanBallast technology gained official type approval from the German BSH in 2010, and was submitted for AMS and USCG approval in mid-2012. At last year’s SMM exhibition, RWO officially launched a modified version of the system, based on the proven technology but using considerably less footprint. The treatment principle is based on two cleaning steps, consisting of the removal of sediments and bigger particles by self-cleaning deep-filtration disc filters followed by a disinfection step using RWO’s patented EctoSys technology eliminating the remaining bacteria and organisms.
This new contract builds on the already successful technology with CleanBallast systems having been selected by customers from all over the world. Customers in Belgium, China, Canada, Cyprus, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea and the Netherlands have already selected CleanBallast systems for a variety of vessels including container, bulker, heavy lift, RoCon, multi-purpose and tankers.