ACTON, MASS – (December 1, 2008) – Ecochlor announced today that the US Coast Guard has accepted the container ship M/V Atlantic Compass and the bulker M/V Moku Pahu into the Shipboard Testing Evaluation Program (STEP). Both ships are equipped with Ecochlor Ballast Water Treatment Systems. The acceptance specifies that, on these vessels, the Ecochlor System is an approved alternative to ballast water exchange as a means of complying with Ballast Water Management regulations found in 33 CFR 151- 2035. This equivalence lasts for the life of the system or until the ship is decommissioned.

The M/V Atlantic Compass, one of the world’s largest combined Container/RORO ships, owned by Atlantic Container Line, is a Swedish flagged vessel that carries cargo between Europe and North America, and the M/V Moku Pahu is an integrated tug barge, operated by Matson Navigation, that carries sugar from Hawaii to the US West Coast and charters to Asia.

Under STEP, both ships will be using and testing the Ecochlor Ballast Water Treatment System as the vessels operate in US waters. The system installed on the M/V Atlantic Compass in 2004 has a treatment capacity of 2,500 m3 per hour, and the M/V Moku Pahu system, installed in 2005, has a capacity of 1,200 m3 per hour.

The STEP program’s purpose is to facilitate the development of effective ballast water management technologies through experimental systems, thus creating more options for vessel operators seeking alternatives to ballast water exchange. The STEP is available to all foreign and domestic vessels subject to the Coast Guard’s Ballast Water Management BWM) regulations, 46 CFR 151 Parts C and D. For more on STEP visit:

http://www.uscg.mil/hq/cg5/cg522/cg5224/step.asp

About Ecochlor

Ecochlor has developed a proprietary state-of-the-art ballast water treatment system to provide a global solution to the transfer of aquatic invasive species. Ecochlor’s system, the Ecochlor Ballast Water Treatment System, is patented in the U.S., Australia, Singapore and Korea and other patents are pending in the U.S. and internationally. Ecochlor Systems provide the shipping industry with a cost effective, environmentally acceptable treatment system, which provides immediate compliance with all enacted and proposed standards and regulations. Ecochlor’s in-house experts and team of strategic partners not only supply complete design and fabrication of the Ecochlor Systems, but also marine engineering, naval architecture, chemical treatment expertise, shipboard installation and ongoing technical and regulatory certification support.

Ecochlor is based in the USA with capabilities to install, service and support systems throughout the world.