BIO-UV Group has supplied its BIO-SEA ballast water treatment system to Chantiers de l’Atlantique for operation aboard the first of the new Orient Express ships.

The company said that factory acceptance trials for the chemical-free BIO-SEA B01-0135 unit were completed with the installation aboard the first Orient Express vessel at the shipyard.

The vessel was floated out on June 16.

When the yacht is operational next year, the system will treat water flow rates of up to 135 m³/h. A sister vessel, scheduled for delivery in 2027, will also be fitted with a similar unit.

Maxime Dedeurwaerder, BIO-UV Group’s sales director for solutions, said: “Our ballast water treatment systems resonate with environmentally conscientious ship owners and builders because of the compact, low-energy-consuming reactor technology we have developed.”

“The BIO-SEA’  B’ unit for the Accor ships, for instance, needs only one UV reactor, optimizing space and energy saving efficiency without any impact on ballast water treatment performance to limit invasive species proliferation,” added Dedeurwaerder.

Arnaud Le Joncour, senior vice president of sales and marketing at Chantiers de l’Atlantique, said: “Chantiers de l’Atlantique has good experience with BIO-UV Group’s BIO-SEA ballast water treatment systems, with more than twenty installations over the past decade or so.”

“The BIO-SEA technology combines mechanical filtration and UV disinfection, providing chemical-free treatment compliant with both IMO and USCG regulations, which was an important consideration for the operational scope of the Accor sailing yachts,” added Le Joncour.

The BIO-SEA B Series automatically regulates the UV dose according to the water quality. Treatment performance is not affected by water temperature or salinity.

Since no chemicals or active substances are used in the treatment process, deballasting can be carried out without detriment to the marine environment, according to the group.