The U.S. Navy has selected BIO-UV Group and its American engineering and servicing partner, The Columbia Group, to develop a Ballast Water Treatment System (BWTS) to equip future Navy ships.
The contracts follows an international call for tenders to develop a military version of a UV ballast water disinfection system for the Navy.
Until now, military vessels have operated outside the scope of the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) Standards for Living Organisms in Ship’s Ballast Water Discharged in U.S. Waters regulation.
The ruling entered into force in 2016 and governs the management of ballast water in American waters. However, future American military vessels will now need to be equipped with ballast water treatment systems.
Working with The Columbia Group, BIO-UV Group will design a robust ballast water treatment system for ballast pump capacities from 300m3/h up to 1,000m3/h.
To secure this call for tenders, BIO-UV Group demonstrated experience acquired with the French and other navies. The company recently secured contracts to supply the Belgian and Dutch navies with ballast water treatment solutions for installation to twelve mine-hunting vessels.
BIO-UV Group is part of a very small global group of companies that have developed a UV-based water disinfection system certified to both International Maritime Organization (IMO) and USCG type approval requirements.
This dual certification provides BIO-UV Group with a major advantage over its competitors by enabling it to guarantee shipowners that their vessels will be able to sail anywhere in the world, particularly in U.S. coastal waters.
“We are pleased to have been selected in association with The Columbia Group to design the ballast water treatment systems that will equip future U.S. Navy ships,” said Benoit Gillmann, President and CEO of BIO-UV Group.
“Three years after obtaining USCG certification, this new step represents a recognition of our know-how and a new prestigious reference for BIO-UV Group.”
