The International Convention for the Control and Management of Ships' Ballast Water and Sediments (Ballast Water Management Convention or BWM Convention) is an international maritime treaty established in 2004.

A very interesting interview was given to nafsgreen.gr by Dimitris Poulos, Regional Manager, Service and Equipment Marine and Diesel Power, Alfa Laval regarding the implementation of BWM Convention.

If global trade is the engine of economic growth, shipping is the cylinder oil that keeps the engine running.

The most significant BWM Convention issue that shipowners and operators are facing is the need, for ballast water treatment systems that have been type approved, to enable vessels equipped with such technologies to meet the D-2 treatment standard wherever the vessel calls.

All the commercial vessels will have to be equipped with a Ballast Water Treatment System by 2024 and no more extensions can be granted after that year. In this respect, the Owners are being called to install a suitable system for their vessels basis the IMO/USCG Compliance Dates.

Many reputable Owners worldwide have already decided to move on with the installation of BalClor Ballast Water Management System (BWMS), which is being produced by SunRui Marine Environment Engineering Co. Ltd, a company based in Qingdao, China and well-known within the International Maritime Community.

So, a day may come and an order is placed to SunRui for the supply of BalClor BWMS for an existing vessel (Retrofitting Project) or for a vessel going to be constructed (Newbuilding Project). There is no doubt that the Technical/Newbuilding Department will be very satisfied with this decision, since a thorough research for the system will have been done prior placing the order.

For the Owners not already familiar with SunRui BalClor BWMS, the following information can prove very useful:

Q: Why is SunRui a reliable company?
A: SunRui is a state owned company and subsidiary of CSIC Group.

Q: Why is BalClor BWMS unique?
A: BalClor BWMS is exclusively developed by SunRui, which owns the independent intellectual property rights of the system.

Q: What kinds of technologies were applied on BalClor BWMS?
A: The treatment process is performed by Filtration, Side Stream Electrolysis and Neutralization, which is absolutely safe, highly efficient and environmental friendly. Same technology has been implemented and tested by SunRui in Nuclear Power Plants Industry for over 30 years.

Q: What are the advantages of BalClor BWMS?
A: The advanced Side-Stream Technology makes it easy for BalClor BWMS to be retrofitted: the system has small footprints and there is not any significant modification of the main ballast pipe, which can save your engineering/installation cost. For each ballasting operation, only 1% of the ballast flow will be electrolyzed, resulting in extremely low power consumption. With 30 years’ experience in hydrogen removal technology (deriving from the nuclear industry), BalClor BWMS is approved by Class as an absolute Safe System.

Q: What kind of engineering could SunRui provide?
A: SunRui is able to provide a turn-key solution for BWTS Retrofitting Projects including 3D scanning, preliminary design, detailed design, technical-commercial consulting, and supervision-commissioning-crew training during the installation of the system at the Shipyard. Also, SunRui has been cooperating with engineering offices from China, Singapore, Japan, UK and Scandinavia and is one of the few manufacturers able to provide a BWTS-EGCS (Exhaust Gas Cleaning System – Scrubber) Combined Retrofitting: engineering study and supply of equipment for both products will be done, which can easily release the Owner from multiple parties communication and co-work.

Q: How does SunRui ensure the Global After-Sales Service?
A: The Global Service Network is based on the combination of in-house engineers and out-sourced engineering companies. SunRui has opened Overseas Offices worldwide including: Tokyo/Imabari, Singapore and Hamburg Offices, where SunRui engineers can be based and serve the Adjacent Areas. Also SunRui has been continuously dispatching engineers from Qingdao Headquarter flying to every continent. Meanwhile, SunRui has trained more than 100+ engineers from 30+ engineering companies as certified service engineers, in order to cover all major ports worldwide for quick response. Until now SunRui has successfully held Training Seminars in Japan, Singapore, USA, Turkey, India and a Seminar in Greece is already in the agenda.

Q: How does SunRui innovate?
A: SunRui has dedicated personnel, focused on the innovation of the products both on quality and on technology aspects. With continuous Research and Development (R&D) from 2007 and since the first installation of BalClor BWMS in 2011, the system has been developed to its 3rd generation with highly standardized elements and manufacturing procedure. With the support of its own National Key Laboratory of Anti-fouling and Water Treatment, SunRui is also committed to improving International Standards and Regulations. In March 2018, two International Standard Proposals drafted by SunRui “ISO 23314 Health and risk assessment of BWTS” and “ISO 23315 Hydrogen safety measures for EC-BWTS” were approved and formally proposed by ISO/TC8.

Q: What does SunRui think about the BWTS industry in the future? Where goes this industry?
A: It is naturally considered that the peak time of BWTS Installations for existing vessels will have passed by 2024. Some companies were involved with BWTS Industry within the last years and they will certainly face challenges in many aspects, due to lack of experience and solid background. On the contrary, SunRui as a 60-years old company with state backgrounds will certainly keep supporting worldwide customers for many decades and will be a reliable partner for numerous years.

Concluding, the strong support of After-sales service and capability of innovation will play a more and more important role in the future. BalClor BWMS is a trustworthy and Top Quality solution either for a Newbuilding Project or a Retrofitting Project and will definitely have the long-lasting support of SunRui, a member of the CSIC Group.

Since September 2015, Marine Plus is the Exclusive Representative of SunRui for the Greek Market and will ensure that each inquiry for BalClor BWMS will be handled with priority and will meet the full attention of SunRui.

* Regional Manager (Overseas) of BWMS Department SunRui Marine Environment Engineering Co., Ltd

With the ratification of the Ballast Water Management Convention, shipowners are pressed to decide which treatment systems to choose.