Hamworthy, one of the world’s leading manufacturers of marine water management systems, has secured an important contract with Al Fattan Goltens Shipbuilding & Repair to supply its latest generation sewage treatment plant to a vessel under construction in Abu Dhabi for the UAE Navy.
The STC-2A unit is being installed in a 75m long, 15,000dwt support vessel (a propelled landing craft), which is the first in a series that will be based by the Navy in Abu Dhabi. The ship is being built at the Al Sadr Port Shipyard at Taweelah, near Abu Dhabi with delivery due to take place in mid-2011.
Hamworthy Middle East Sales Manager, Nithin Sudarsan, says, “International standards on wastewater discharge have steadily tightened and will continue to do so over the coming years. Achieving this contract represents a significant milestone, demonstrating the commitment of the authorities in Abu Dhabi to meeting these new standards.”
In 2008 Hamworthy became one of the first companies to receive type approval in accordance with the IMO MEPC 159 (55) standard for its enhanced ST-C series. The company has already received a significant number of orders for sewage plants that meet the newly introduced standards, which conform to the revised MARPOL Annex IV related guideline. The MEPC 159 (55) standards apply to equipment installed on existing ships on or after 1 January 2010, and new ships whose keels are laid on or after this date, superseding the previous MEPC 2(VI) guidelines adopted in 1976. The new regulations call for higher discharge standards for all effluent quality parameters.
Hamworthy’s ST-C sewage plant uses an extended aeration process which has been steadily optimised for marine application over the past four decades. The technology, which is fully compatible with gravity and vacuum collection systems, features an automatic control system for unattended operation and minimum maintenance and is available in a modular compact construction for retrofit applications. Hamworthy has also developed a range of advanced MBR (Membrane BioReactor) treatments plants to enable ships to continue discharging black and grey water in especially sensitive waters, where regulations demand even tighter controls.
Hamworthy has received both EC Marine Equipment Directive (‘Wheelmark’) certification from the UK Marine & Coastguard Agency and type-approval certification from Lloyd’s Register for the enhanced ST-C range of sewage treatment plants.
