The Wolfson Centre for Bulk Solids Handling Technology

InvaSave to help owners with convention

(Posted on 10/09/19)

The InvaSave mobile ballast water treatment system from Damen Green Solutions has demonstrated beyond doubt its capability to help ships meet the incoming D2 standard. All vessels will be required to comply with the standard which came into force on September 8th this year.

This summer the InvaSave crew teamed up with local service provider Tradebe Santander (Tradebe Company) to receive ballast water from a tanker in Gijon. What appears to be a simple exercise has significant ramifications for all operational vessels – particularly older builds.

As the IMO’s Ballast Water Convention will be extended to cover existing vessels in addition to newbuilds, vessel owners must address their processes for taking on or discharging ballast water. By the time of their first IOPP certificate renewal following Sunday’s deadline, all vessels will be required to meet IMO-D2 standards regarding ballast water treatment.

“InvaSave provides a mobile and flexible solution to this requirement,” says Damen Green’s Matthijs Schuiten, “meeting market demand without causing operational delays. If a vessel is unable to discharge its ballast water, the loss of income through downtime, compounded by additional port costs, has a huge impact on the vessel owner’s bottom line. The efficiency of InvaSave’s model also potentially saves owners months of downtime waiting for a retrofit.”

Damen has been offering the InvaSave solution for over five years, launching the InvaSave 300 in 2017 and improving its functionality in preparation for the introduction of this latest legislation. Following successful demonstrations of its capability in Lisbon on 16th and 17th May this year, this latest exercise in Gijon provides final confirmation that InvaSave is ready and able to help vessel owners adapt to the latest regulatory demands.

The InvaSave 300 IMO-certified system is an external ballast water treatment unit that in a single pass uses mechanical filtration and ultraviolet radiation to remove and eradicate invasive organisms from ballast water as it is discharged from inbound vessels, to IMO-D2 standards. InvaSave can also provide ballast water of the same quality to outbound vessels.

Damen Green Solutions uses these reception jobs to further train clients and Damen staff in the ballast water reception service operation. The entire system comes in a single, 40ft container and so is fully mobile; ideal for placing on a barge, workboat or trailer for easy movement around a port, harbour or shipyard.

Damen Shipyards Group operates 36 shipbuilding and repair yards, employing 12,000 people worldwide. Damen has delivered more than 6,500 vessels in more than 100 countries and delivers around 175 vessels annually to customers worldwide.