BP Shipping Chooses Goltens to Retrofit BWT Systems on LNG Carriers

BP Shipping BP Shipping has awarded a contract to Goltens for the engineering and retrofit installation of OceanSaver ballast water treatment (BWT) systems on board two of the shipping companys gas carriers. The LNG carriers to be retrofitted are the 138,000 cbm British Innovator and British Merchant, built at South Korean Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI) shipyard in 2002 and 2003, respectively. Under the deal, Goltens, a service organization providing shipowners support for their BWT retrofit projects, will undertake the engineering and prefabrication work in 2017 and then complete the installation services in 2018. BP Shipping manages a fleet of 49 vessels, including VLCC, Suezmax, Aframax, MR Handysize, VLGC and LNG carriers, the companys data shows. Norway-based OceanSaver is one of the four firms which received BWMS type approval certificate from the United States Coast Guard (USCG). The approvals come ahead of the Ballast Water Management (BWM) Conventions entry into force on September 8, 2017. From the date of entry into force, ships will be required to manage their ballast water to avoid the transfer of potentially invasive species.