Engineering is key BWMS installation challenge

Birgir Nilsen, member of the board of directors at Optimarin, stressed that engineering and design capacity is the most time-consuming aspect of the BWMS purchase process.

“We don’t think it is going to be a problem with suppliers. We think the challenge is going to be more engineering – design capacity,” he said.

“If you choose a system that is simple to install you should never prolong a dry docking. So, we don’t think that will be a problem,” he added.

Approval from classification approvals may also prove to hold shipowners back, he predicted.

More orders

Optimarin currently has 400 of its USCG and IMO-approved ultraviolet-based (UV) Optimarin Ballast System on vessels and an order book of about 200, said it is seeing an increase in its order book as time goes on.

Most recently, Eastern Shipbuilding Group (ESG) has selected Optimarin to supply the BWTS for nine Offshore Patrol Cutters (OPC) to be built at their Florida shipyard.

Speaking about an increased demand for services as IMO deadlines draw closer, he said: “We have a normal delivery time of six months. We also developed a fast track where systems are delivered in four to six weeks.”

He explained the company has geared its internal systems to be able to scale dramatically, enabling it to be able to deliver 1000 systems a year.

Next year, it will undertake further testing of its technology in Norway with the aim of operating in dirtier and more challenging waters.