ACTON, MA, Sept. 2, 2004 (PRNewswire) -- Ecochlor Inc. and Atlantic Container Line (ACL), announced today that the two companies are collaborating to demonstrate the effectiveness of Ecochlor's patented Ecopod™ Ballast Water Treatment System that has been designed to safely and economically eliminate unwanted aquatic species from ballast water. Trials have begun with the Atlantic Compass, one of the largest combination RORO/Containerships in the world.
According to Ecochlor President Tom Perlich, "Chlorine dioxide has been used for 50 years to treat industrial water and drinking water, but has never been used to treat seawater. We have conducted extensive research at the University of Rhode Island Graduate School of Oceanography to prove the effectiveness of chlorine dioxide against invasive species, and have worked over the last three years to develop the Ecopod System, designed specifically for marine applications. We are pleased to be working with ACL over the upcoming months to demonstrate the effectiveness of our systems on a large commercial ship."
Robert Moore, ACL vice president of Marine Operations & Terminals , adds, "We are proud to be working with Ecochlor to deal with this environmental issue. We have carefully examined other approaches and believe Ecochlor's can set the standard. The ACL RORO/Containerships are Swedish flagged vessels that carry cargo between Europe and North America. It is, therefore, an excellent choice for an international demonstration of the Ecopod System."
The worldwide transfer of aquatic invasive species poses severe environmental, economic and public health issues and is now a major international concern. For over a hundred years, oceangoing vessels have been designed to carry ballast water to facilitate stability and safe maneuverability. Since the 1970's, however, with the advent of larger, faster ships and the globalization of trade, the amount of ballast water being used and discharged around the world has increased dramatically.
International standards requiring the treatment of ballast water are currently being adopted, and in the U.S. a number of states have passed, or are in the process of passing, laws mandating the treatment of ballast water.
About Ecochlor
Ecochlor (www.ecochlor.com), founded in 2001, has developed a proprietary, state-of-the-art ballast water treatment system to provide a global solution to the transfer of aquatic invasive species. Ecochlor's system, the Ecopod Ballast Water Treatment System, has been patented in the U.S., and other patents are pending in the U.S. and internationally. The systems provide the shipping industry with a cost effective, environmentally acceptable treatment system, which provides immediate compliance with all enacted and proposed standards and regulations. Ecochlor's in-house experts and team of strategic partners not only supply complete design and fabrication of the Ecopod Systems, but also marine engineering, naval architecture, chemical treatment expertise, shipboard installation and ongoing technical and regulatory certification support.
About Atlantic Container Line
Atlantic Container Line (www.aclcargo.com) provides liner transportation services for containers, project and oversized cargo, heavy equipment and vehicles with five of the world's largest combination G3 Roll-on Roll-Off (RORO) Containerships. ACL is headquartered in Iselin, NJ, with offices throughout Europe and North America. Weekly ports of call include Baltimore, Norfolk, New York And Halifax, Liverpool, Antwerp, Bremerhaven and Gothenburg. ACL also offers RORO services from North America to Africa and the Mediterranean. Supplementing the G3 trans-Atlantic service, ACL also offers four additional pure container strings for a total of five weekly transatlantic services. ACL is a member of the Grimaldi Group of Naples, Italy. In addition to the G3 vessels, ACL owns two Multi-purpose RORO vessels, Grande Brasile and Grande Argentina, which are time chartered to the Grimaldi Group.
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