Pacific Basin Orders BWMS Retrofitting for 20 Ships
Image Courtesy: Pacific BasinHong Kong-based bulk shipping company Pacific Basin Shipping Limited has established a Ballast Water Management System (BWMS) retrofitting order for 20 existing vessels with Headway Technology.
Headway’s OceanGuard BWMS, developed together with Harbin Engineering University, would be used in the project.
The system adopts Advanced Electrocatalysis Oxidation Process (AEOP) to kill microbes, bacteria, viruses and dormant ovum in water by using semiconductor materials under electron excitation and the hydroxyl radicals formed by water molecules, according to Headway.
Pacific Basin Shipping Limited previously appointed an independent team to evaluate the manufacturers bidding on this project.
In a record low half-year period for dry bulk shipping, Pacific Basin made a net loss of USD 49.8 million during the period, compared to a net profit of USD 5.8 million seen in the same period a year earlier, while its operating cash flow for the first half of the year stood at USD 7.7 million, down from USD 58.8 million reported in 2015.
Pacific Basin Shipping owns 89 vessels, including Handysize dry bulkers, Supramaxes and one Post-Panamax, featuring some 3.8 million dwt, with an average age of 7 years, according to data provided by VesselsValue.
The company has ten newbuildings on order at a number of Japanese and Chinese yards, which are scheduled to join the shipowner during 2016 and 2017.
