Ecochlor secures IMO BWMS Code type approval

Boston-headquartered provider of ballast water treatment (BWT) solutions Ecochlor has received IMO BWMS Code type approval for its EcoOne and EcoOne Hybrid systems from the Norwegian Maritime Authority.

As explained, the certification is an amendment to Ecochlor’s existing BWMS type spproval and is in accordance with the recent and more stringent standards set by IMO Resolution MEPC.300 (72), Code for Approval of Ballast Water Management Systems (BWMS Code). 

In September 2021, the company received IMO BWMS Code type approval for these systems and are on track to get USCG type approval by the end of the year.

During the certification process, the EcoOne BWMS was tested extensively to ensure that it works effectively as a single-step system using chlorine dioxide (ClO2) treatment technology, without a filter and in all operating conditions in brackish and marine waters.

DNV was the independent laboratory (IL) and took overall responsibility for the entire process of evaluation, inspection, testing and submission of all type approval applications for the system. 

The land-based and shipboard testing was performed on two vessels owned by Maran Tankers, a VLCC and an Aframax, during their typical voyages. 

With the latest approval, Ecochlor now offers three different BWMS products — Ecochlor BWMS (filtration and ClO2), EcoOne BWMS (ClO2 alone) and EcoOne Hybrid BWMS.

Each of these systems relies on the same core ClO2 technology, which is said to offer very distinct advantages over other ballast water disinfection techniques.

“ClO2 technology is not affected by suspended sediments or turbidity. Therefore, filtration is not necessary to remove sediments prior to treatment, unlike UV technology. Additionally, ClO2 technology primarily reacts with living organisms (rather than reacting with all organic matter) and does not require significantly increasing the dose to effectively treat the ballast water,” Andrew Marshall, VP of business development, explained.

“On the other hand, sodium hypochlorite or electro-chlorination-based technologies react with any organic matter living or dead and require a very large increase to the chemical dose to ensure treatment efficacy. This increased dosage requires additional power to produce the higher levels of hypochlorite and therefore, could potentially be hazardous to tank coatings and vessel structures.”