BIO-UV Group’s maritime division and its engineering partner 3C Metal have completed the at-sea retrofit installation and commissioning of a low-flow ballast water treatment system aboard Greatship Maya.

Greatship Maya is a multipurpose offshore supply vessel operated by Greatship Global Offshore service Pte Ltd (Singapore), whose ultimate parent company is the Great Eastern Shipping Company in India.

A BIO-SEA L03-087 modular unit was successfully installed while the 4350dwt ship maintained rig supply operations offshore Labuan, Malaysia.

Maxime Dedeurwaerder, Business Unit Director, BIO-SEA by BIO-UV Group, said: “With a history spanning more than 25 years, 3C Metal is not only a recognised engineering services provider to the offshore oil and gas sector, but specialises in at-sea installations and engineering.  The success of this project is very much testament to the success and strength of this partnership.”

Going on to comment about the project in more detail, Dedeurwaerder explained: “Together, we surveyed the site, taking 3D scans of the ship’s machinery spaces to simplify pipework, electrical wiring, system integration and installation. This also revealed some space limitations which ensured we were able to design and build a ship-specific solution, allowing 3C Metal’s team to get the BWTS in place without modifying the steel structure in any way.”

All pre-installation pipework was done in parallel with the design and production of the BIO-SEA system, with 3C Metal’s facility in Johor Bahru, Malaysia, fabricating the piping, structural, hydraulic, and electrical connections needed for the project.

All components were shipped to the vessel’s port of call prior to ship loading and integration. In-service installation meant the vessel was able to continue its normal operations throughout the retrofit.

While an “L” Series BIO-SEA unit is recognised as having one of the smallest footprints of any ballast water treatment system in the market, its small size, however, does not affect the high performance of the system, as Florian Cortes, heading technical operations for BIO-SEA by BIO-UV Group, explained.

“During preliminary work it was identified that the ship’s pumps would also be used for transferring liquids other than ballast water, such as water from drilling operations. But after studying the vessel’s different operational requirements it was found that in ballast mode, the pumps would not be required to run at their full rated capacity of 300m3/hr. 87m3/hr was sufficient. This allowed us to offer a smaller BIO-SEA system that would otherwise have been specified. This resulted in an easier integration and a more cost-effective retrofit solution for the end user.”

Although afloat installations do take longer than those carried out in drydock, the arrangement shaves thousands off the total cost of a ballast water treatment retrofit project.

“That’s the benefit of an in-service integration,” said Jordan Laurans, Group Operations Manager, 3C Metal. “When you consider drydock hire and the number of people involved, together with the financial losses incurred due to vessel off-hire time, then an at-sea installation makes complete commercial sense. The ship continues operating.”

Marking the 3C Metal’s first complete BIO-SEA turnkey project, it took twenty days and a small team of engineers to install and commission the system, saving the shipowner significant drydocking costs and vessel off-hire time.

“The 3C Metal and BIO-SEA team was available around the clock and reacted quickly to the challenges faced during the project, which made for an efficient integration,” said Pramod Pandey, Greatship Technical Manager. “We would likely consider this model again for future projects.”

Greatship Maya is a DP II MPSSV built by Singapore’s Keppel Singmarine. When delivered in 2009, the vessel was one of the first to be built in accordance with the then new Special Purpose Ships Code. The vessel can store 1,140m³ of potable/fresh water, 1,140m³ of fuel oil, 1,530m³ of ballast and 1,310m³ of drill water.