BIO-SEA by BIO-UV uses ultraviolet light to treat ballast water, will receive US Coast Guard approval
By
Rebecca Gibson |
This article was first published in the Spring/Summer 2018 issue of the International Cruise & Ferry Review. All information was correct at the time of printing, but may since have changed.
Based in France, BIO-UV has almost 20 years’ experience in designing and manufacturing ultraviolet light (UV) water treatment equipment for use onboard ships. Since 2012, the group’s BIO-SEA team has been developing a system that uses mechanical filtration and a high dose of UV disinfection to treat ships’ ballast water, so it can be safely disposed in the sea, without needing to use any chemicals or causing damage to the environment.
BIO-SEA’s cost-effective modular systems have been type approved by both Bureau Veritas on behalf of the French Administration and also the International Maritime Organization. The ballast water treatment systems are also set to be officially approved by the US Coast Guard in the second quarter of 2018 following a series of successful tests in fresh, brackish and marine waters by water experts DHI Danmark and NIVA Laboratories. Shipboard tests have been performed on two container vessels from CMA CGM Group.
BIO-SEA has a full order book for the next few years and has already sold more than 100 ballast water treatment systems to shipowners. MSC Cruises, for example, installed a BIO-SEA system on the recently launched MSC Meraviglia, while Celebrity Cruises will do the same onboard its four new Edge Class ships. Thanks to its worldwide network of certified partners, BIO-SEA is able to supply ballast water treatment systems for newbuild, retrofit and other shipboard projects.