Ballast Water System Market will Grow "Explosively"

The in-tank system can operate while a ship is sailing

Danish company Bawat expects to start selling a new ballast water cleaning system to carriers in 2014, taking advantage of a market that it expects to grow rapidly, CEO Kim Diederichsen told industry news site ShippingWatch.

"We are on the verge of a breakthrough on a market that you can now see the outline of, and which will grow explosively in coming years," Diederichsen said.

"It's extremely big numbers in a short number of years.

"We expect revenue of more than $18 million within a few years."

Diederichsen said the system should receive certification in the first half of next year.

He said the market depends partly on how quickly the International Maritime Organisation (IMO)'s ballast water convention is ratified, but that, regardless of the IMO rules, the market will be pushed forward by U.S. plans to make the systems mandatory for ships docking at its ports.

That's especially true of dry cargo and tank shipping vessels, Diederichsen said.

"No one from these segments wants to risk not being able to dock at US ports," he said.

"It's an unthinkable situation.

"So the entire market will be kickstarted by this."

Unlike the ballast water systems currently on the market, Bawat's technology operates while the ship is sailing, cleaning the water in the tank using the ship's waste heat for part or all of its energy.

The system has completed two out of three planned tests at sea and is also moving forward with land-based tests as it seeks IMO approval.

The Canadian Shipowners Association (CSA) has been protesting U.S. rules on ballast water treatment in the Great Lakes, saying they will cost the Canadian economy more than $1 billion.