Optimarin has won a contract to install its Optimarin Ballast System (OBS) on Østensjø Rederi’s Edda Fides, the world’s only purpose built monohull accommodation vessel. The Norwegian ballast water treatment (BWT) specialist secured the business following on from the success of a previous installation on the firm’s Edda Fortis in 2015.

Edda Fides, which is operated by Østensjø Rederi`s subsidiary Edda Accommodation, is a multipurpose accommodation and service ship, with a 600 bed capacity, 15,000 square foot deck area, advanced offshore crane, and helicopter deck. Constructed in 2011, it serves the oil and gas industry worldwide, using its DP3 specification to work in close proximity to offshore installations.

Accommodation vessels serve as barracks for offshore workers or sailors.

“The Edda Fides is a unique vessel capable of fulfilling demanding operations in harsh offshore environments,” comments Optimarin CEO Tore Andersen. “Edda Accommodation needed a ballast water treatment system that was market proven, simple to install and easy to maintain, allowing them to get on with providing high quality services to their customers. Although the first system we installed for the team was a newbuild, they were well aware of our retrofit specialty, with over 60 OBS units successfully retrofitted around the world.”

The system has been dispatched to Galveston, Texas, where installation will be completed by the end of the first quarter of this year.

Speaking of the decision to choose Optimarin’s system for the company’s flagship, Edda Accommodation’s John Einar Edvardsen, Technical Superintendent, explains: “The quality of the accommodation and service we provide on Edda Fides is second to none in the industry. We wanted a BWT solution of the same standard – one that we can rely on to provide first class operations, whatever the demands.

“In addition to the technology and expertise of Optimarin, we were also keen to choose a system that would meet all regulatory demands, now and in the future,” Edvardsen added. “The fact that OBS is so close to full USCG approval was therefore key, as this gives us the flexibility to offer the vessel to customers in waters where regulatory and environmental demands are at their most stringent.”

Optimarin, which has focused exclusively on BWT since its formation in 1994, has now sold over 370 OBS units, with more than 270 installed.

In addition to its upcoming USCG approval, expected in autumn this year, the system is fully approved by IMO and certified through DNV GL, Lloyd’s, Bureau Veritas, MLIT Japan, and the American Bureau of Shipping.