UK shipping company Purus Marine and German firm Nordic Hamburg have placed an order with Dutch tech supplier Value Maritime for four emissions-reducing Filtree Systems to be installed on newly built containerships.
As explained, the systems include Clean Loop System and 30% carbon capture which will be installed on four container vessels that will be operated by BG Freight Line.
BG Freight Line ordered two Filtree Systems with carbon capture for container vessels BG Onyx and BG Ruby earlier in 2022.
The deal represents a milestone for Value Maritime, the first time the company’s revolutionary product has been ordered for installation on newbuild container vessels. The 12.5 MW systems will be delivered between September 2023 and February 2024 and will be installed at Value Maritime’s berth in Rotterdam.
Value Maritime developed Filtree , an innovative system that cleans both air and water from all ship types and includes an integrated carbon capture feature making today’s fleet (newbuild or retrofit) not only sustainable today but future-proof for tomorrow.
According to the company, the system filters sulphur, CO2 and 99% of ultra-fine particulate matter from vessels’ exhaust streams. The company expects this will significantly reduce emissions while continuing to sail on high sulphur fuel that is both more cost-efficient and helps to reduce maintenance requirements.
With the Clean Loop mechanism, the system is also able to filter oil residues and particulate matter from its own washing water, giving the water a neutral pH value, which contributes to reducing acidification of seas and rivers.
Furthermore, the technology that will be installed on the boxships will feature a modular CO2 capture and storage system. This system captures CO2 from exhaust emissions and uses it to charge a “CO2 battery,” where it is stored and transported to shore.
On shore, the CO2 is discharged for use, for example, in the agricultural industry, after which the battery is returned to the vessel to be recharged, thus representing a 100% circular solution, Value Maritime explained.
“The Filtree is a plug and play system. The nature of its design has ensured its straightforward retrofitting. This current order suggests a significant shift is taking place in the maritime industry, with more and more companies considering ways to reduce their emissions,” the company noted.
Value Maritime’s vision is to dramatically decrease the environmental footprint of shipping and significantly contribute to improving the overall sustainability of the maritime industry. Since 2017, their technology has been selected by shipowners and operators to increase their competitiveness by achieving valuable emission reductions.
“Cleaner, more sustainable shipping has risen on the agenda of many maritime companies over the past years. We are now seeing companies proactively looking to reduce their emissions not only retrospectively but from the very outset of operations. This is a welcome development that shows the seriousness with which the industry is taking up the challenges of climate change and the energy transition,” Laurens Visser , Container Vessels Specialist at Value Maritime, commented.