Damens InvaSave en route for type approval

Damen’s ballast water discharge technology is on track to obtain IMO type approval as it enters into the last phase of certification by the Dutch flag state.

The InvaSave is mobile ballast water discharge technology that will help pave the way for compliance in ports.

Gert-Jan Oude Egberink, Damen’s manager of BWT, said: “InvaSave is the world’s first and only technology on the market today to treat ballast water at discharge in only one step.”

“It can therefore serve as a port-based alternative for those ship owners that may not want to retrofit an on board treatment system, perhaps because their ships operate on non-exempted fixed routes on their ships are so old as to make any investments would be expensive,” he added.

The technology has been successfully tested in various representative challenging water conditions and the official land-based testing was completed at the MEA test institute in 2015.

Test protocols are in line with IMO BWMC test guidelines and additional requirements of the Netherlands.

During the shipboard tests ballast water will be taken in untreated and the efficiency of the technology will be validated upon discharge only.

Type approval is expected to be obtained in the third quarter of this year.

Mr Oude Egberink added: “Port-based BWT has added value for ports clients as it increases the support services offered to customers.”

He concluded: “Alternatives like InvaSave are also required for ports that need to provide backup in the case of emergencies when ships on board treatment systems fail.”