What impact does a SOx scrubber actually have on a vessel? Dutch ship owner Spliethoff knows very well. Spliethoff, a specialist in dry cargo, was early to choose a scrubber for marine SOx compliance. In 2012, the company retrofitted Alfa Laval PureSOx on the M/S Plyca, setting the record for the largest marine scrubber ever installed. Today Spliethoff has twenty vessels with PureSOx scrubbers, plus considerable insight when it comes to working with them.

PHOTO Stena Imperator with her sister Stena Imprimis side by side.

Yesterday, the Stena Imperator side by side with her sister the Stena Imprimis were named at the Chinese shipyard GSI (Guangzhou Shipbuilding International) in Guangzhou in southeast China. The two vessels are nos. 11 and 12, in a series of 13 identical IMOIIMAX tankers all ordered by Stena Bulk. The 13th and last IMOIIMAX tanker will be delivered in January next year. Both the now named vessels are owned by Stena Bulk.

PHOTO: Larissa – faultless longterm BWT operation with Optimarin.

In the same week that a report from ABS revealed problems with almost half of installed ballast water treatment (BWT) systems, Optimarin gave a stunning demonstration of its long-term system reliability on board Neptune Subsea’s IMR vessel Larissa.

Optimarin, a market leader in environmentally friendly and compliant BWT technology, has installed more than 300 of its systems worldwide, with over 500 units ordered. The 334 m3 capacity system onboard the SX130 Ulstein design Larissa was one of the first, installed during its construction by Zhejiang Shipbuilding in 2010. Since that point it has only seen 140 hours of operation.