May 2020

A comparison of Ballast Water Management Technologies

New White Paper

This white paper provides an overview of the two most prominent ballast water management (BWMS) technologies.

This white paper provides an overview of the two most prominent ballast water management (BWMS) technologies installed on today’s vessels - ultraviolet (UV)-based systems and electrochlorination (EC) systems. It offers a comparison between the two technologies and explores the benefits and challenges faced by their operators.

Some of the highlights in the white paper are:

One Operation mode vs Two operation modes
Holding time
UV treatment
Power consumption
New BWMS code approvals

Up until October 2019, close to 10,000 vessels — nearly 10% of the global vessel fleet—has been fitted with a ballast water management (BWM) system.

According to Clarkson’s World Fleet Register, the most common technologies for BWM are ultraviolet (UV)-based systems and electrochlorination (EC) systems.