TECHNICAL REPORT
1.1 PUBLISHABLE SUMMARY
The International Convention for the Control and Management of Ships' Ballast Water and Sediments (BWM Convention) was adopted in 2004 to introduce global regulations to control the transfer of potentially invasive species. The BWM Convention entered into force on 8 September 2017.
On 7 July this year, the IMO (International Maritime Organisation) MEPC (Marine Environment Protection Committee) approved draft amendments to the Ballast Water Management Convention, setting out new deadlines for compliance with the D-2 discharge standard, which fixes the date by which ballast water treatment systems must be installed. These amendments effectively add two years to the global installation process, although certain requirements of the convention must still be complied with by 8 September 2017. In particular, the D-1 Standard covering ballast water exchange still requires compliance.
The D1 standard concerns ballast water exchange, which must be undertaken within open ocean areas, >200 nautical miles from land and in seas >200m deep.
The D2 standard covers approved ballast water treatment systems. All new build ships must meet the D2 (treatment) standard after entry into force, 8 September 2017.
For existing vessels, MEPC has decided that the phase-in period for ballast water system retrofits (D2) will start on 8 September 2019, and as a result, the date by which all ships must have a ballast water treatment system installed has been put back from 2022 to 2024. The IMO decision does not have any impact on the US Coast Guard (USCG) rules regarding ballast water treatment systems, which remain unchanged. For ships trading to the US, therefore, the urgency for BWT system retrofits remains.
The MEPC decision has been warmly welcomed by the shipping industry generally but condemned by equipment manufacturers and environmentalists.
The USCG legislation, which became effective in June 2012, applies to any ships planning to discharge ballast water in US waters, and comes with its own exchange or treatment operations as well as sediment management guidance.
A known, but not named Ballast Water system manufacturer/supplier has been in the BWMS business for 15 years and has only recently entered into profit in 2017
The report takes a detailed view of the Ballast Water market, it will show:
• Market Study - perform market analysis. Interaction with potential clients, identify specific needs of end users.
• Specific system analysis - generate minimum specifications for system configuration. This will include overall product size and weight for, minimum 50% of global fleet. Must have and would like to have features. Target cost of manufacture and sales price.
• Analysis of actions required for scale up - skills and actions required to successfully scale up existing process.
• IP Management
• Elaboration of Business plan
In addition, the report includes:
• Current discharge standards including timelines and variations between standards
• Market size, retrofit and new build
• The requirements of retrofit and new build ships
• The divisions between Regulatory Authorities, system manufacturers, shipbuilders and owners
• Decision makers, ship builders/ship owners
• The role of the Ballast Water Equipment Managers Association and others
Hydrus Hygiene Ltd manufactures a biocide, HydrusTM 75; it is a sodium hypochlorite product. HydrusTM 75 is currently being registered under Article 95 of the Biocide Product Regulations, (Regulation (EU) 528 2012), Hydrus Hygiene Limited are members of the Eurochlor manufacturing Group. The product has proven high efficacy, combined with low dose rates and significantly reduced contact times. Sodium Hypochlorite is manufactured by the combination of sodium hydroxide and chlorine, it is also manufactured by electrolysis (Electro-chlorination) with sodium chloride as the raw material. There are a range of Ballast Water Management Technologies currently available on the market, Electro-chlorination, a common choice for ballast water treatment system for onboard production, but market analysis shows that onboard EC systems suffer from several issues. The Hydrus Hygiene X Cell system addresses these issues. The report shows that the X cell system can scale up with relative ease without impacting on the footprint of the system. The system utilises state of the art Boron Doped Diamond (BDD) electrodes, whilst these are not new to the Ballast Water market, the use in the X cell system is unique. Market research has identified the systems that employ similar electrodes and has identified the processes and their limitations, the X cell operates in a different system configuration.
Within the results there is one stand out piece of market research that is critical to all involved in Ballast Water Management and critical to the final decision on moving forward to Phase 2, or not. The interview with a previously employed Ballast Water Treatment Manager for a supplier of UV systems for BWMS is extremely important as it gives a very interesting, and extremely different, overview of the Ballast Water Treatment industry. The contact is considered an expert on BWMS having published numerous papers and articles and has participated in numerous IMO meetings as a member of a Government Delegation; having vast experience on both sides of the fence. The salient points, via skype interview, are as follows:
• Current Systems do not work
• UV - suffer from turbidity and general water quality issues
• Electro-chlorination - varying levels of salinity have a significant effect on production systems. Most ballast water operations take place in port where variations in salinity are at the most prominent. Rivers are major fresh water influences. Electro-chlorination systems therefore have trouble boosting disinfection levels, the residual is lost very quickly.
• Both types of system suffer from re-growth issues.
• Both types of system suffer from lack of space, the footprints provided are a fraction of the normal space required for like for like onshore systems.
• Entry into the Ballast Water System market requires a partner with proven marine track record, including service partners
In addition:
• Operators are untrained
• System suppliers are reluctant to give performance guarantees
• System suppliers make spurious claims on performance
• Ballast Water operations take place in port, energy availability is restricted due to high volume additional operations, loading, unloading etc
The discussions paint a very different picture from those portrayed by system suppliers. There is one additional point made, Ship owners are extremely powerful and influential, ship owners consider BWMS an onerous, add on cost, particularly when viewed together with additional onboard regulations such as gas exhaust scrubbing. Owners do everything last minute and will continue to hold off until the market settles or are pressurised into action. The decision to push back the date on which all existing ships must have a BWMS is evidence of the power ship owners have. It is not inconceivable that this date could slip even further, to 2027 or beyond. The market research shows that ship owners are reluctant to discuss Ballast Water Management and the associated technologies
Whilst standards are now set, there is still considerable market confusion brought about the USCG requirement. The USCG regulation came into force in January 2014; however, at the time of inception, no systems had received USCG approval. This meant that ships entering US coastal waters could receive an extension to the date for fitting or install an Alternative Management System (AMS). AMS systems are essentially IMO approved systems that have undergone a USCG paper review, with systems installed for a maximum of 5 years. This is only a temporary solution for ship owners with no guarantee of the installed system passing USCG approval. This simply adds to the confusion and results in a 'no decision is better that the wrong decision' stalemate.
Main Results Achieved
A. Market research
• Current technology is unreliable and does not consistently meet customer requirements.
• Regulations are confusing.
• Time scales for Regulation implementation are constantly slipping
• Market entry requires partnerships
• Ship owners show great reluctance to adopt/comply with regulations
• South Korea and China are the World's largest ship producers currently
• Ship builders dictate which BWMS is fitted to each new build
• Ship builders tend to favor own Country suppliers
• There is a potential to concentrate on niche markets
• It is highly possible that the EU will consider the North Sea a single homogeneous zone
• Entry into market can take 2+ years
• A clear trend for end users to adopt UV systems over electro-chlorination
B. X Cell System Design and Performance
• System is scaleable without increasing footprint
• BDD electrodes outperform others
• Systems costs are significantly lower than current available technologies
• Product has high efficacy coupled with low dose rates
• The design addresses the issues with variations in salinity
