Thabang Mokopanele
2 June 2008
Johannesburg — CAPE Town-based Resource Ballast Technologies (RBT) said last week it had secured an exclusive licence agreement with Norway-based Wilhelmsen Maritime Services (WMS) to offer sales, installation, service and marketing of a locally developed ballast water treatment system.
The system minimises the transfer of harmful aquatic organisms and pathogens in ships' ballast water.
As ships travel from port to port, weight distribution on the vessel is adjusted to compensate for loads and conditions. This is done by means of taking in or releasing ballast water. In the process, aquatic species, including plants, animals and microbes, are transported around the world in these ballast tanks.
When these species are released into new environments, they may become invasive species, seriously disrupting native ecosystems and out-competing local species.
The introduction of the zebra mussel, native to the Black Sea, has been estimated to have caused $1bn damage to the eastern US in the past decade, while according to Science in Africa, exotic mussels have become a pest on the coasts of SA, displacing the more environmentally important indigenous species.
RBT CEO Bernard Jacobs says environmental concerns about the spread of harmful aquatic organisms across the oceans have made the treatment of ballast water a critical issue.
Since the adoption of the International Maritime Organisation's international convention for the control and management of ships' ballast water and sediments in 2004, substantial research efforts across the world have been dedicated to the development of effective onboard treatment systems.
RBT has developed an advanced treatment system based on the use of cavitational forces, sterilisation by ozone, sodium hypochlorite and filtration to address the needs of a market forced to comply with the new regulations.
"We are delighted to team up with WMS. Their leading position in the marine services industry and global reach is of great importance as we gear up to deliver a necessary ecological solution to the world's marine fleet," Jacobs says.
The agreement ensures that RBT continues to grow as a South African company while securing a share of the industry's global market, he says.
After evaluations by WMS of the few systems available, it became clear that RBT satisfied all WMS's criteria of minimal footprint, low power consumption, easy operation and installation, treatment results and simple technology. The system will undergo sea trials on board the Wilhelmsen merchant ship Toronto from next month.
Proprietary components of the RBT system will be manufactured by RBT locally and assembled by WMS.
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