Safe Bulkers, Inc. (NYSE: SB), an international provider of marine dry bulk transportation services, announced yesterday that it has agreed with Erma First, a Greece based company, to install in all Company's vessels a Ballast Water Treatment System (BWTS).
The Ballast Water Management (BWM) Convention was adopted by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) and entered into force on 8 September 2017. The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) had adopted similar regulation for ballast water treatment effective on January 1, 2016. Both organizations have provided certain extensions for BWTS installation for various reasons including type approval.
Erma First BWTS became the first full flow electrolysis system worldwide, that received the United States Coast Guard (the USCG) type-approval certificate in October 2017. The Company has cooperated with Erma First intensively the previous months to optimize and adapt the system in Company's vessels.
First installation of Erma First BWTS is expected to take place in our next dry-docking scheduled for first quarter 2018. The installation on all our vessels and related capital expenditure is expected to be expanded over a period of five years according to Company's dry-docking schedule.
Loukas Barmparis, President of the Company, commented: "We decided to install in all our vessels Erma First BWTS, which is designed and produced in Greece, starting at an early stage which provides us with certain commercial and financial advantages, including availability of equipment, minimization of down time, unrestricted worldwide trading the following years and the financial benefits of a block order".
Source: Safe Bulkers