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Norway-headquartered Clean Marine has signed an agreement with the Chinese yard Huanghai Shipbuilding Co., Ltd. for the supply of exhaust gas cleaning systems (EGCSs) on board two reefer/fishing support vessels that are currently under construction. The contract also includes the option for the delivery of additional EGCSs for two identical sister vessels.

The reefer ships are owned by EF Transport (Malta) Ltd., whose fishing fleet is primarily engaged in the North-East Atlantic and is therefore required to comply with existing International Maritime Organization (IMO) legislation for vessels operating in Emission Control Areas (ECAs). Currently, ships are only permitted to run on fuel with a maximum sulphur content of 0.1 percent when travelling within ECAs.

The installation of Clean Marine EGCS will enable the new reefers to comply with the existing and future emissions regulations without switching to more expensive fuels. With an EGCS installed, the vessels will be able to burn cheaper and readily available heavy fuel oil (HFO) instead of marine gas oil (MGO). Operating costs will also be lower and there will be no need for potentially complex and risky fuel-switching.

From 2020, the global limit for the sulphur content of fuel will be 0.5 percent, which also makes EGCSs an attractive solution for vessels trading mainly outside ECAs.

The Clean Marine system supplied to Huanghai Shipbuilding is a multi-stream scrubber designed to clean 30,000 kilogrammes (kg) of exhaust per hour. The scrubber is said to remove both sulphur oxides (SOx) and particulate matter from the emissions of one main engine and two auxiliary engines. The system is a hybrid type which is designed to operate seamlessly in both open- and closed-loop (zero discharge) mode.

The installation of the EGCSs is scheduled to take place in 2016.

Clean Marine's CEO Nils Høy-Petersen remarked: "Clean Marine has again proven our technically superior and commercially competitive product. These contracts confirm the growing market demand for Clean Marine's Allstream EGCS. We are very pleased to be working closely with Huanghai Shipbuilding to deliver a cost-effective solution to help the owner comply with existing and pending emissions regulations."