Hyundai Heavy's Ballast Water Treatment System Accepted by US Coast Guard

Hyundai Heavy Industries Co., Ltd. (HHI), the world’s biggest shipbuilder and a leading marine engine manufacturer, announced today that its electrolysis-based ballast water treatment system, HiBallast, was accepted as Alternative Management System (AMS) by the United States Coast Guard. This comes after the company won type approval from the International Maritime Organization (IMO) in 2011.

According to the Standards for Living Organisms in Ships' Ballast Water Discharged in U.S. Waters, Final Rule, it is mandatory for all new ships built from December 2013 coming into and going out of US ports to install approved ballast water treatment systems. Hyundai Heavy believes the US Coast Guard’s acceptance of HiBallast as AMS will play a positive role for the company to win more HiBallast orders for ships operating on US routes.

The Ulsan, South Korea-based company is also aiming to win the US Coast Guard’s approval for another ballast water treatment system, EcoBallast, by the first half of 2014. This system sterilizes seawater by using ultraviolet rays.

*Ballast water and HiBallast: Ballast water is seawater used to stabilize the ship when loading/unloading cargo and to maintain optimal vessel speed. The seawater can contain bacteria, local plankton, mud, and sand from the unloading port where the ballast water has been taken in. As the ballast water is released, it can have an impact on the marine ecosystem. The HiBallast system not only treats seawater by filtering and sterilizing bacteria and plankton through electrolysis, but also sterilizes 8,000 cbm of seawater per hour with small power consumption. Its modularized design makes it easy to be installed on vessels.