Ballast water management system receives final approval

The system, which was developed jointly by the German companies Hamann AG (Hamburg) and Evonik Industries AG (Essen), prevents non-indigenous organisms from being introduced with the ballast water of ships.

It has now also been granted Type Approval by the relevant national regulatory authority, the Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency (BSH, Hamburg). In April 2008 the system had already received Final Approval from the London-based International Maritime Organization (IMO), the UN agency responsible for all maritime traffic.

With certification by the IMO and the national administration, this is the world's first system that complies with the IMO Convention on Ballast Water Management of 2004 and has obtained both, Basic and Final Approval for its active substance as well as for the entire system. The Convention stipulates that new small ships should be fitted with appropriate systems from the year 2010 onwards, and larger ships from 2012; older ships should be retrofitted by 2016 at the latest.

The SEDNA (Safe, Effective Deactivation of Non-Indigenous Aliens) system developed by Hamann treats the water in several steps during the intake only. Initially, hydro cyclones are used to separate out the solid material by application of centrifugal forces. This eliminates large species and significantly reduces sediments, to which living organisms often attach themselves. A filter then removes all remaining particles larger than 50 µm.

This two-stage physical process ensures that the various types of solids in the water and a wide range of living organisms are effectively separated out. This cleaned water is then disinfected with PERACLEAN Ocean, a special formulation of peracetic acid and hydrogen peroxide from Evonik, which is easily biodegradable.