Cathelco Seafresh sees major increase in desalinator sales
Cathelco Seafresh, the UK specialists in reverse osmosis desalinators, achieved a dramatic rise in sales during 2013 when a total of 61 units were sold to customers around the world, the company said in its press release.
This is more than double the output for 2010, the year in which Seafresh Desalinators were acquired by Cathelco Ltd who manufacture a range of equipment for the shipping market.
“Cathelco have a well established global agent network and this has been a major factor in selling our desalinators in markets as far apart as Ireland, Singapore, Dubai, China and the USA,” said Chris Bell, general manager of Cathelco Seafresh.
Since the takeover, the company have re-designed and extended their range of ‘Ton’ desalinators which originally had the capacity to produce between 10 and 25 cubic of freshwater per day, although higher outputs could be achieved by using multiple units. The output range is now from 8 tonnes to 35 tonnes and will soon be extended to 50 tonnes.
Two of the most recent orders have come from the Irish Navy for desalinators which will be installed on the L.E. Orla and L.E. Ciara, coastal patrol vessels measuring 62.6 metres in length with a top speed in excess of 25 knots and a crew of 39. This follows the successful installation of a desalinator on the L.E.Eithne in 2012.
The vessels will be installed with ‘Ton’ units with the capacity to produce 12 tonnes of freshwater per day. With touch screen control and a full range of diagnostic systems including an hour meter, digital water quality and plant operating status, the units are easy to control and monitor.
Seafresh are also supplying a series of desalinators for Sovereign Global Maritime, the Dubai based maritime security services company which operates a small fleet of vessels.
The M.V.Mura, M.V. Aladin and M.V. Sultan will each be installed with ‘Ton’ units capable of producing up to 12 tonnes of potable water on a daily basis. Last year, the M.V. Suunta and M.V.Mirvak were fitted with H2016 units producing 6.5 tonnes of fresh water.
“Our desalinators are ideal for military and maritime security vessels as they are compact and provide excellent reliability whilst making very little demand on crew time”, Chris Bell commented.
Another order has come from Teekay Offshore Partners who are converting the Navion Clipper, formerly a shuttle tanker, into an FSO which will be operated by Salamander Energy plc in an oil field off Thailand. The FSO will have two ‘Ton’ units each producing up to 35 tonnes of freshwater per day.
In China, Guangxin Shipbuilding will be installing ‘Ton’ units on two 78 metre platform supply vessels (PSVs) which are currently under construction. This follows the supply of H2012 desalinators for 14 vessels in 2013.
“During the past year, we have introduced a new medium duty range of ‘Ton’ desalinators with 8-16 tonne daily capacities which have been built to a new space saving design”, Chris Bell explained.
This has been achieved by optimising the components and their layout so that the new models have a footprint which is 50% smaller than the original designs. Another important factor is the use of a high pressure pump which is smaller and more closely matched to the requirements of the system within the output range. It also has the advantage of lower power consumption – 5.5kW instead of 7.5 kW.
Since acquisition by Cathelco, Seafresh Desalinators have relocated their production facilities to Chesterfield. Cathelco are best known for their range of marine pipework anti-fouling systems and ICCP hull protection systems which are installed on naval vessels, commercial ships and offshore platforms worldwide.