OREANDA-NEWS. Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd. announced completion of work to install a ballast water treatment system on the very large crude oil carrier (VLCC) Libra Trader at Keppel Shipyard in Singapore.

On January 10, the company announced plans to install the system on a VLCC ahead of IMO installation compulsion. MOL is the first Japanese shipping company to install such a system for existing VLCC. Keppel Shipyard has timely delivered the vessel as committed and Libra Trader has already returned to service, and the ballast water treatment system will be tested and adjusted during operation.

This is also the first installation case to be completed at Singapore, the center of repair and conversion industry of the VLCC.

In case of oil tanker, most of the ballast water treatment system is required to be installed in the pump room, which is very narrow and small, and thus requires very high levels of safety and process management. Thorough discussions with the shipyard at every stage of the system installation, from preparation and planning through completion, helped make the work go smoothly. Based on the knowledge and knowhow gained from this installation project, MOL will develop future plans for even smoother execution of planning and installation work.

Ballast water discharged while loading 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.

The project to install the system on the VLCC is part of MOL's approach to "contribution to conservation of biodiversity," which is one of the company's environmental strategic targets. MOL continually forges ahead to offer transport solutions that put less burden on the global and marine environments. MOL is also preparing to ensure compliance with the Ballast Water Management Convention by accumulating experience in system installation and operation.