Auramarine – New Challenger in the Market

Auramarine Ltd is the world’s leading manufacturer of heavy fuel oil supply systems and other auxiliary units for marine and power station engines. The company is now applying its wide-ranging experience in liquid flows to a new sector that benefits the environment.

Auramarine is bringing out Auramarine Crystal Ballast, Ballast Water Treatment System (BWTS). Thanks to technological innovations featured in this system, it is energy-efficient, compact and easy to install. Additionally, Auramarine's solution does not affect the time required for ballasting or de-ballasting operations, or increase the duration of port calls.

With Auramarine Crystal Ballast, extremely promising results have been obtained. The project is currently entering an intensive type approval testing phase. It is progressing on the projected schedule, and the first system type approvals and final products are expected to reach the market in the second half of 2010. With this novelty product, Auramarine is aiming for a remarkable share in the BWTS market. Up to year 2019, the market potential is estimated to be substantial, as around 50,000 ships should be equipped with BWTS.

Broad understanding of ballast treatment

Auramarine has dedicated significant amounts of time and funds to develop a BWT System that can cope with the requirements of  various ships and harbours. In the Crystal Ballast project, Auramarine had four main goals: the company was determined to provide the best practical solution for shipowners and yards around the world. The project also strived for comprehensive understanding of ballast water conditions and flows onboard ships, and aimed at a system that could be adjusted and fitted for various vessel types and ballasting operations. Finally, the product had to be competitive as regards its size, weight, energy consumption and cost-effectiveness, both at the time of installation and in operation.

UV-C – ballast water treatment of the future

Auramarine's solution is based on utilising UV-C radiation. The UV-C solution presents indisputable advantages, and the technology concerned is already familiar from such as treating drinking water and wastewater. The advantages of using UV radiation as a disinfection process are clear. This purely physical disinfection process has been tried, tested and proven in many land and marine applications. No harmful by-products are formed in the process, nor does it require the production or storage of chemicals on board. The system presents no danger of overdose or underdose, as only naturally occurring processes are used. The process does not result in any changes in the physical parameters of the water, such as its pH value, temperature, salinity, taste, odour, or colour, and a system based on UV-C technology has a relatively low overall energy consumption.

Destructive invasive species continue to spread with ship ballast waters

Every year, states and the fishing industry incur costs amounting to millions because of alien species that are carried from one water system to another in the ballast water of ships. In February 2004, the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) adopted a convention that aims at controlling the spread of harmful alien species carried in ballast waters.

The only way of restricting the further spreading of invasive species through ballast water is to ensure that all states ratify and implement the BWM Convention, and all vessel operators fit appropriate technology on all ships.

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