IMO Type Approval Received for Hyde GUARDIANâ„¢


Cleveland, Ohio – May 13th, 2009 – Hyde Marine, Inc., a Lamor Group company, has received final Type Approval for the Hyde GUARDIAN™ Ballast Water Management System. The Type Approval Certificate has been issued by Lloyd’s Register on behalf of the UK Maritime and Coastguard Agency to confirm compliance with Guidelines contained in IMO resolution MEPC.174(58). This approval covers the complete range of Hyde GUARDIAN™ systems with capacities from 60 m3/hr to 6000 m3/hr, allowing Hyde to satisfy the requirements of all vessel types and sizes.

â€This is a major milestone for our company and we will now be able to take full advantage of Hyde’s worldwide network of sales offices, sales agents, and engineering/installation/service partners. We look forward to offering the marine industry the Hyde GUARDIANâ„¢ system – an elegant, efficient and cost effective BWT solution.â€, said Tom Mackey, Hyde’s Chairman.

Hyde completed all required land based testing at Netherlands Institute for Sea Research (NIOZ) in the spring of 2008. Shipboard testing, spanning a six month period during 2008, was conducted aboard the cruise ship “Coral Princessâ€, by scientists from the University of Maryland Chesapeake Biological Laboratory (CBL). Tests were conducted in full accordance with the IMO G8 Guidelines and demonstrated that the performance of the Hyde GUARDIANâ„¢ exceeds the IMO D2 performance standard and that it can meet more stringent proposed US Federal and State of California standards as well.

The Hyde GUARDIANâ„¢ treatment process combines efficient, automatic back-flushing disk filtration during ballasting and powerful, medium pressure UV disinfection during both ballasting and deballasting to inactivate marine organisms. No chemicals or active substances are used or produced in the treatment process or for maintenance of the system. Suitability for shipboard applications has been well proven aboard the “Coral Princessâ€, operating continuously since June 2003, and the Celebrity “Mercuryâ€, in service since January 2007. Both vessels have been allowed by the State of Washington to discharge treated ballast water into State waters.

In October 2008, the “Coral Princessâ€, was the first ship accepted into the USCG Ship Technical Evaluation Program (STEP), allowing it to discharge properly treated ballast water anywhere along its normal routes in US waters for the life of the ship. After five years of operation, all STEP and IMO G8 testing was performed with the originally installed UV lamps, quartz sleeves, and filter disks – a clear demonstration of the Hyde GUARDIAN’sâ„¢ robust design and efficient automatic self-cleaning process.

Hyde GUARDIANâ„¢ systems are available as components for retrofit into the space available aboard existing vessels, as was the case with the first two systems installed. They can also be delivered as compact, skid mounted units, ensuring easy and inexpensive installation for new vessel construction projects. Hyde Marine supplied six GUARDIANâ„¢ Model HG300-S systems to the UK Royal Navy in December 2008. The systems will be installed on two new Royal Navy CVF Future Aircraft Carriers, which have three completely segregated ballast systems.

Hyde GUARDIAN Model HG 300-S (Skid mounted, pre-piped and wired, and factory tested)

The Hyde GUARDIAN™ design is simple, safe, efficient and reliable, requiring no chemicals for operation or maintenance. Low energy consumption and exceptionally low consumables result in very low OPEX over the life of the ship. Low pressure drop allows for use of existing ballast pumps and ensures minimum reduction of ballast flow rates. The GUARDIAN™ is totally automatic and easily interfaces with the ship’s control system. The system can be made explosion proof for installation in hazardous environments, making it suitable for tank vessels and all other shipboard applications as well as for land and barge based installations.

Hyde Marine, Inc. is a member of the Lamor Group, one of the world’s leading suppliers of oil spill response technology and services. “We are extremely proud of this accomplishment by Hyde Marine and thank our many project partners, including TEKES, VTT, Princess Cruises and the many research teams who participated in this Type Approval process,†comments Nico Larsen, Lamor Group CEO.

Additional information is available at http://www.hydemarine.com and http://www.lamor.com, by telephone at +1 440 871-8000, or via e-mail at sales@hydemarine.com.

By Professional Mariner Staff