Nippon Yuka Kogyo's ballast-water management system receives approval from MLIT

On October 21, Nippon Yuka Kogyo Co. Ltd., an NYK Group company, received approval from Japan’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT) for the SKY-System® (ballast-water management system) that the company developed with Katayama Chemical Industries Co. Ltd. , the company said in its press release.
 
The SKY-System (patent under registration) makes use of Peraclean Ocean, a chemical treatment that sterilizes aquatic organisms and bacteria contained in ballast. This is the very first system to reliably sterilize organisms irrespective of the quality of the ballast water — e.g., seawater, brackish water, freshwater, ice-cold water — enabling the ship to take on and discharge ballast water in areas around the world.
 
The energy-efficient system is easy to maintain and can be installed on all types of vessels without dry-docking. Moreover, it is a simple, integrated unit that requires only a small space, so it is easy to install during operation without significant remodeling. In this sense, it is a breakthrough ballast-water management system that requires minimal off-hire (or none, in most cases) and minimizes installation cost.