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People are not waiting for the Coast Guard; our regulations came out in 2012. What they are waiting for is for the vendors to get system type approval from the Coast Guard. The onus is on the vendors to com- plete . . . the process.”

Ryan Allain, USCG CMDR “ their plans for obtaining U.S. approval. years.” ”

The Maersk Group was so concerned

Don’t Look at Us about the possibility of a backlog, that “People are not waiting for the Coast in 2009, back when the convention was

Guard; our regulations came out in expected to be rati? ed quickly in the 2012. What they are waiting for is for face of a handful of system managment the vendors to get system type approval suppliers, it invested in a joint venture from the Coast Guard. The onus is on with Skjølstrup & Grønborg ApS and the vendors to complete . . . the pro- the Desmi Group to develop and help cess,’’ said Allain. Trojan Marinex, a test ballast water treatment systems. Fast maker of UV systems, and one of three forward ? ve years into a more robust vendors chosen to partner with Damen market and Maersk no longer feels the shipyards, says it tested from the start to need for its system “insurance.” meet U.S. requirements and believes it “DESMI Ocean is not part of Maersk is one of three products that have com- any more. The reason for the invest- pleted testing at DNV GL, the other in- ment was that we were very concerned dependent testing lab. “The balance of about suppliers, as the demand was far the other seven to nine are in the early bigger than the number of suppliers, but stages and need to complete both land today I think the numbers may be suf? - and ship-based testing, will take them cient,” said Wredstrom. Today there are well into 2016,” said Jim Cosman, mar- 51 IMO-approved suppliers that “hope- ket manager for the company. “The fully” will all have U.S. Coast Guard

Coast Guard has said it can review test approval, he adds. “I expect that they results in as little as 30 days,” he adds, have done their calculations” and are predicting that his company’s products prepared to meet demand.

will receive USCG approval at the latest And should bottlenecks turn up with by second quarter this year. suppliers or the shipyards, CMDR Al- lain notes that those situations qualify

The Perils of Pent-Up Demand for Coast Guard extenions.

2016 approval dates are not what ship From Maersk’s point of view, the owners and operators are going to want bigger issue is the extension of time a to hear. The longer pent-up demand ship will need in drydock when it goes builds, the more concern there is that in for its renewal survey and mandated overwhelmed vendors and overbooked BWMS retro? t. “Without a doubt, [the shipyards could force vessels into wait- retro? ts] will extend the time needed. ing queues, screwing with scheduled dry There might be increased demand for docking dates, creating a backlog situa- years.” tion and increasing the amount of time a And not just on the ship yards. “It will ship is of? ine. demand a lot from the whole supply

Like other shipowners, Maersk rec- chain. The classi? cation societies need ognizes the issue. The challenge for to approve all installations. These things ballast water is from the existing ? eet, have to be tested to make sure they actu- says Wredstrom. “We see 60,000 ships ally work. We’ve seen on a new build needing to be compliant in the next ? ve how it can be a challenge to integrate the www.marinelink.com 41

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