l to r: Lloyd's Register's Kostas Papadakis, Ubong Okon, Daniel Evans, Graham Greensmith and Dominic Miller
Compliance with the forthcoming Ballast Water regulations presents considerable logistical and technical challenges together with a significant financial commitment to operators. Ballast Water Management – How prepared are you? was the theme of the second of Lloyd’s Register’s UK & Ireland Marine Business Teams’ Technology and Operation Efficiency seminars for 2012.
Hosted by Dominic Miller, one of LR’s Client Managers for the London Business Team, presentation speakers included Graham Greensmith, Lloyds Register Lead Environmental Specialist, Ubong Okon, Lloyds Register Surveyor, EngineeringSystems andDaniel Evans, Fleet Superintendent, Andrew Weir Shipping Ltd.
Discussion at the event, which was attended by thirty of LR’s Londonand South East based clients, focused on being prepared for the implementation of the convention.
The seminar addressed three key areas:-
Firstly, an overview of the convention, looking is some detail as to why the convention is needed, Ballast Water Exchange and Treatment and the associated considerations when selecting a system, how to mitigate potential problems , what to expect from Port State Control Inspections and the latest United States Ballast Water Regulations.
The second phase concentrated on providing guidance with respect to the Lloyds Register approval processes for the Ballast Water Treatment System and the approval processes for specific ship installations. The discussion focused on a number of technical considerations that would need to be taken into account such as, installation location, chemical supply, storage and handing, piping materialsand components amongst others. Thereafter, the requirements for Periodic Surveys once the installation was approved, tested and commissioned.
Finally, Daniel Evans, Fleet Superintendent, Andrew Weir Shipping Limited, spoke from a ship manager’s perspective in some detail about their experiences of fitting a ballast water treatment system.
Some of the area’s that were highlighted included, the matching of the treatment technology to the ship type, the vessels existing ballast system and trading area. Other key considerations had been, location foot print of the system and any associated restrictions, ease of maintenance of the system and continued ease of access to other non treatment system related machinery components for routine maintenance, post installation.
The timing of the installation, whether on passage or at dry-dock is also a key consideration.
From the buffet lunch preceding the seminar
With a vast array of systems and manufacturers with IMO type approval there is a solution out there for all types of vessels in all operational circumstances. The ship owner/operator must study the market and technology carefully in conjunction with both CAPEX and OPEX costs before making the commitment to install a Ballast Water Treatment system.
