BIO-UV Group to supply ballast water treatment systems for six new wind-powered cargo ships

France’s ballast water treatment systems producer BIO-UV Group is to supply its BIO-SEA ballast water treatment technology for six more wind-powered cargo ships being built by French shipyard Piriou Group for compatriot sailing freight transport company TransOceanic Wind Transport (TOWT).

In an effort to have “the world’s largest fleet of cargo sailboats” and respond to the rising demand of carbon-free maritime transport, TOWT submitted an order for the additional six cargo ships in April this year. The order followed the first two wind-powered cargo ships commissioned this summer.

The new agreement is said to build on BIO-UV Group’s existing partnership with Piriou Group, established previously through a 2022 contract to supply ballast water treatment systems (BWTS) for TOWT’s Anemos—which embarked on its maiden voyage in August this year—and Artemis that was welcomed just a few days after that.

As disclosed, much like their sister-vessels, each of the six new 81m long cargo ships will be fitted with BIO-UV’s BIO-SEA low flow L03-0090 ballast water treatment system in a split skid arrangement, a D-2 compliant solution engineered to treat ballast water at a flow rate of 90 cubic meters per hour.

Due to the limited machinery space on these wind-powered schooners, the system will reportedly include a Hydac filtration system, expected to ensure optimized ballast water retention times and a ‘minimal’ impact on the marine eco systems.

“Wind-powered ships such as these Piriou-designed schooners go to show how shipping can substantially reduce its impact on the marine environment,” Maxime Dedeurwaerder, Solutions Sales Director for EMEA at BIO-UV Group, highlighted.

“A BIO-SEA BWTS can reduce a ship’s environmental footprint even further by preventing the migration of invasive species in the most effective way possible. As our UV lamps and reactors have low power consumption, a BIO-SEA unit can also help towards decarbonization.”

Guillaume Le Grand, President of TOWT-TransOceanic Wind Transport, added: “The Piriou Group has a long history of successful cooperation with BIO-UV Group, so the decision to install BIO-SEA was easy, especially given the limited space available onboard.”

Over the operational lifespan of the ships, TOWT—which recently signed a partnership agreement with France’s National School Supérieure Maritime to ‘strengthen maritime training and advance research in sustainable maritime transport‘—has said that approximately 40,000 tons of CO2 emissions could be avoided while transporting around 200,000 tons of goods. In other words, the vessels could cut down on emissions by as much as 90%.