Ecochlor, Inc. announced today that it has received IMO Type Approval for its Ballast Water Treatment System (BWTS) from the Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency (BSH) of Germany. This confirms that the Ecochlor BWTS fully complies with the 2004 IMO International Convention for the Control and Management of Ship’s Ballast Water and Sediments.
Prior to Type Approval, Ecochlor received IMO G9 Final Approval for its system at the 61st session of the IMO Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC61) in September 2010. This demonstrated that the Ecochlor system meets and exceeds international standards for ship safety, human health and the aquatic environment.
“We’re pleased with the IMO Type Approval, an important milestone for our company and our customers around the world. Independent, regulatory agencies and organizations serve a vital function in setting standards and ensuring compliance,” noted Charlie Miller, Chairman and CEO of Ecochlor. “Our approach is technically sound, and offers a practical, low-maintenance and economic choice for ship builders and ship owners.”
Over a two-year period, independent tests of the Ecochlor BWTS were performed at the Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research (NIOZ) and on board the bulk carrier, Moku Pahu. Ten consecutive test cycles conducted on both land and ship resulted in no surviving organisms after treatment. All zeros. This data demonstrates that the Ecochlor system can also satisfy the proposed stringent standards of the United States, which demand even higher levels of performance and safety than IMO standards.
The Ecochlor BWTS uses a two-step process to treat ballast water – filtration followed by disinfection with the well-known biocide, chlorine dioxide. The system’s effectiveness is not impaired by variations in salinity, temperature, turbidity, organics, and vibration, which can impact other treatment options. Furthermore, the small size, low power, and low maintenance characteristics of the Ecochlor system make it ideally suited for installation on the world’s largest ships. Compatibility with explosion protection specifications also allows the Ecochlor system to be easily installed on tankers.
With its extremely simple structure, the Ecochlor system reduces complexity and time in the installation process, which makes it a superb choice for use on both new and currently existing ships.
Ecochlor has had systems in operation since 2004, and two of them have been operating under the United States Coast Guard’s Shipboard Technology Program (STEP) since 2008.
A U.S. based company, Ecochlor was founded in 2001 to develop proprietary products that can safely and economically eliminate worldwide transfers of aquatic invasive species.