Feature 4 | TANKER REPAIRS
Large orders define tanker S retrofit market
Now that there is greater clarity over the compliance timescale, and the technology that is acceptable to regulators, tanker owners are accelerating the placing of orders to retrofit their vessels
Denmark-based product tanker owner and operator, Torm, is to retrofit 36 Alfa Laval PureBallast 3 Ex systems onto its existing fleet between 2019 and 2024. A leading carrier of refined oil products, Torm has worked with Alfa Laval’s PureBallast technology since 2017 and retrofitted its first system earlier this year. Having recently ordered PureBallast also for newbuild projects in China, the company will now retrofit the same technology across its entire product tanker fleet. Te system selected will offer a capacity of 2,000m3
I /hr and will
feature technology that will provide remote access to operational performance data from the installed systems. Alfa Laval has focussed particularly hard
on developing suitable solutions for modern product tankers, many of which offer considerable challenges for retrofits, as they have submerged cargo and ballast pumps, or simply lack space in the onboard pump rooms. Speaking at Te Maritime Standard Tanker Conference in Dubai this October, Peter Sahlén, R&D manager PureBallast, pointed out: “In order to fit a ballast water treatment system on such vessels it is necessary to construct a deck house, while the installation of additional pump heads to reach the deck is also required. In addition the ballast water treatment system filter will need additional pump head capacity during the filter backflush sequence.” The approach taken by AlfaLaval
to
tanker retrofits is to try and adapt as much as possible to the prevailing systems onboard, but still avoid making significant modifications to its proven standard ballast water treatment system design. Sahlén explains: “The solution for tankers is to contain the flow-related components of the PureBallast 3 Ex system, comprising the UV reactor, filter and Clean-in-Place (CIP) unit,
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Ardmore Shipping has opted for Optimarin technology on 18 of its existing chemical and product tankers
in the vessel’s hazardous zone, while all the electrical cabinets are installed within its safe zone. Te use of durable construction materials,
including marine approved
steels, and climate regulation through an integrated HVAC system, also make this a good solution for tankers.” Sahlén also suggested that many tanker
owners who require high-flow capacity ballast water treatment systems will find the company’s new, reduced footprint 1,500m3
/h PureBallast system an attractive
option: “In the past, electrochlorination (EC) systems have been perceived as being a better choice for high-flow applications, such as those required on many tankers, due to a lower power requirement and reduced footprint. However a recent benchmarking study showed the power consumption of UV and EC systems is almost equal, while the footprint of the PureBallast technology is smaller than EC systems.” Further highlighting the growing willingness of leading product and chemical
tanker operators to invest in large-scale installations, Ireland’s Ardmore Shipping has placed a contract with Optimarin for a total of 36 systems. Tese are to be installed on 18 tankers, with delivery of the ballast water retrofits due to commence in February next year. Two Optimarin Ballast Systems (OBS) will be fitted on each of these vessels on a rolling basis, at a selection of partner shipyards with which Ardmore has existing relationships. Once completed, the contract will take the number of Optimarin systems retrofitted on vessels of various types beyond the 200 mark. In another recently confirmed retrofit
deal, US-based Choice Ballast Solutions has extended its relationship with Scorpio Tankers with an order to outfit a further 39 vessels. Delivery of a previous contract with Scorpio Tankers involving 12 Duchessa class ships is already underway, with engineering design and shipyard installation packages recently completed for the first two in the series, STI Duchessa and STI Opera.
Shiprepair & Maintenance 4th Quarter 2018
n one of the biggest single ballast water treatment system contracts signed to date, it has been confirmed that
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