Ten Royal Netherlands Navy vessels will be fitted with sixteen Optimarin Ballast Systems (OBS) by 2017, the company responsible for the installation of the systems announced May 26.
Dutch Defence Material Organization has awarded three contracts to Golten Worldwide and its Green Technologies business unit for the engineering and turnkey installation of the systems.
Landing Platform Dock (LPD) vessels HNLMS Rotterdam and HNLMS Johan de Witt, the frigates HNLMS Tromp, HNLMS Evertsen, HNLMS De Zeven Provinciën and HNLMS De Ruyter, as well as special purpose vessels MOV Van Kinsbergen, HNLMS Pelikaan, HNLMS Luymes and HNLMS Snellius will all be fitted with ballast treatment systems during their scheduled maintenance periods.
Goltens Green Technologies will engineer and install the UV based Ballast Water Treatment Systems (BWTS) onboard the Royal Netherlands Navy vessels during 2016 and 2017, ensuring compliance with both the pending IMO and existing US Coast Guard regulations on ballast water treatment.
Goltens said the Optimarin’s DNV-GL type approved system is fully compliant with the IMO Ballast Water Management Convention, which is currently just shy of the 35% of global tonnage it requires for ratification, and holds an AMS certificate from the USCG.
According to Optimarin, the ballast system is based on filtration as pre-treatment and high doses of UV irradiation for inactivation of marine organisms, viruses and bacteria, without affecting the normal operation of the ship. Ballast water is UV treated both during ballasting and de-ballasting to ensure the dual UV effect. Ballast water is only filtered during ballasting.
Optimarin further describes the OBS as one of few treatment options that does not use or generate chemicals or biocides in its treatment or cleaning processes.