Norwegian shipping company Höegh Autoliners has returned to compatriot ballast water treatment (BWT) specialist Optimarin with an order for ten retrofitted systems.
The contract brings Optimarin’s BWT systems on-board 15 ships within Höegh’s RoRo fleet.
The first 500 m3 units from the batch are slated for delivery this month, with a delivery schedule that rolls out installations through to 2023.
“This is arguably the kind of contract we value most,” comments Optimarin CEO Tore Andersen. “ The fact that Hoëgh Autoliners is an established global leader in its segment is one thing, but the really satisfying aspect is that they’re reordering more of our units because they know they work – day in, day out, delivering optimal, globally compliant operations for their vessels.”
Andersen added that the BWT segment is still somewhat defined by teething troubles, citing an ABS survey from 2017 revealing that almost half of installed systems weren’t operating properly.
“Our simple, easy to install and maintain technology is the market proven choice. This order is living proof of the faith industry leaders have in our systems and that’s immensely gratifying.”
The order follows less than a month after Optimarin won one of its biggest contracts to date, for the delivery of 36 systems to Ardmore Shipping. The shipping company switched to Optimarin having experienced a number of operational issues related to ballast water treatment systems installed by an unnamed manufacturer.
Optimarin said that it has now sold well over 650 systems, with more than 500 installed and operational. Of these, over 200 have been retrofits delivered in collaboration with Goltens and Zeppelin.