France-based water treatment firm BIO UV Group has completed a retrofit low-flow ballast water treatment system at sea with its partner 3C Metal, an engineering solutions firm.
A BIO-SEA L03-087 modular unit was installed aboart the 4350dwt vessel Greatship Maya, the firms said, a multi-purpose offshore supply vessel operated by the Singapore firm Greatship Global Offshore Serve Pte.
The work was completed as the ship was carrying out rig supply operations off Labuan, Malaysia.
“Together [with 3C Metal], we surveyed the site, taking 3D scans of the ship’s machinery spaces to simplify pipework, electrical wiring, system integration and installation,” said Maxime Dedeurwaerder, business unit director, BIO-SEA, with the BIO UV Group.
”This also revealed some space limitations, which ensured we were able to design and build a ship-specific solution, allowing 3C Metal’s team to get the BWTS in place without modifying the steel structure in any way.”
“During preliminary work it was identified that the ship’s pumps would also be used for transferring liquids other than ballast water, such as water from drilling operations,” said Florian Cortes, who heads up technical operations for BIO UV Group. ”But after studying the vessel’s different operational requirements it was found that in ballast mode, the pumps would not be required to run at their full rated capacity of 300m3/hr. 87m3/hr was sufficient. This allowed us to offer a smaller BIO-SEA system that would otherwise have been specified and meant an easier integration and a more cost-effective retrofit solution for the end user.”
The firms said that although at-sea installations take longer than those done on shore, the fact that a dry dock was not required meant huge cost savings. The vessel could also carry out its operations, saving time.
