OREANDA-NEWS. January 23, 2013. Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd. (MOL; President: Koichi Muto) today announced that the company acquired approval in concept for installation of a packaged container ballast water treatment system that can fit in a vessel's cargo hold(*). This is a joint technological development with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. (MHI; President Hideaki Omiya) and marks Japan's first approval of such a system by Nippon Kaiji Kyokai (ClassNK). The new technology offers much faster installation time on an existing vessel, compared to systems installed in the vessel's engine room.

Commercially available BWTS is packaged in a 40-foot container (about 12m long) with electric equipment. Ease of maintenance and accessibility is considered for this containerized design.

[Characteristics of the container-type ballast water treatment system]
Shorten the work required such for preliminary inspection because the system is containerized, allowing for a great reduction of detailed pipe fitting and adjustment at the installation stage.
Installation time is reduced by an estimated seven days, compared to installing a system in the engine room.
Effective solution for vessels with limited engine room space.

MOL and MHI started detailed engineering work and will install an experimental system with a capacity of 750m3/h (the first ever to fit in a 40-foot container) on the MOL-owned 8,100 TEU containership MOL Competence this spring.

Ballast water discharged while loading/discharging cargo carries marine organisms around the world and can have a negative impact on marine ecosystems and biodiversity. This has become a subject of global concern since the late 1980s. Accordingly, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) adopted the Ballast Water Management Convention in February 2004, and its ratification is under way.

Our customers are managing their own global footprint and this new system highlights how MOL is staying at the forefront of eco-management advancements. The project to install the system on the containership is part of MOL's approach to "contribution to conservation of biodiversity," which is one of the company's environmental strategic targets in the midterm management plan GEAR UP! MOL. MOL continually forges ahead to offer transport solutions that put less of a burden on the global and marine environments. MOL is also preparing to ensure compliance with to the Ballast Water Management Convention by accumulating experience in system installation and operation.

(*) Concept Approval of Installation for Packaged Container Ballast Water Treatment System in Cargo Hold: Approved by third-party accredited Nippon Kaiji Kyokai (ClassNK) for installation in conformity with the rules and regulations.