Damen’s InvaSave, a mobile ballast water discharge technology, is on track to obtain IMO type approval as it enters into the last phase of certification by the Dutch flagstate.
More and more countries are ratifying the IMO’s Ballast Water Management Convention (BWMC) and it is very likely that it may enter into force as early as the first half of 2017; in any case, it is only a matter of time.
Shipboard Tests
The InvaSave technology has been successfully tested in various representative challenging water conditions and the official land-based testing was completed at the MEA test institute in the Netherlands in 2015. Final shipboard tests have now commenced on board of the 800 TEU container vessel Henrike Schepers.
Test protocols are in line with IMO BWMC test guidelines and additional requirements of the Dutch flagstate. Unlike conventional on board ballast water treatment systems, InvaSave is a mobile discharge technology for port services. Therefore, during the shipboard tests, ballast water will be taken in untreated and the efficacy of the technology will be validated upon discharge only.
InvaSave Technology
Damen can deliver the InvaSave technology in a self-sufficient mobile container, which can be put onboard a service barge or moved around the port on a trailer or a pontoon.
A vessel needing to discharge its ballast water can connect to the InvaSave unit, which then processes the water and discharges it in the port in compliance with the IMO D2 standard. For vessels with much larger ballast water capacities, it is possible to interconnect several systems. If mobility is not required, the InvaSave containers can also be stacked and interconnected on shore.
First InvaSave Systems
The first InvaSave systems will be operational at Groningen Seaports located in the Dutch Waddensea, a protected Unesco world heritage site, after the IMO BWMC enters into force. This project is developed with the aid of a subsidy from Waddenfonds, a Dutch foundation that aims to protect and develop the ecology and economy of the region. The port service shall be provided by the Dutch waste company Van Gansewinkel.
IMO type approval is expected to be obtained Q3 2016 and a patent is pending.
Picture: Inside of Damen's InvaSave 300.
