The framework agreement, negotiated at Nor-Shipping, will enable Optimarin to use facilities in Asia, North America and the Middle East to provide its worldwide customer base with local lead times for the commissioning and maintenance of the Optimarin Ballast System (OBS).
“We know Goltens very well,” explained Optimarin CEO, Tore Andersen. “We’ve worked with them for about six years, partnering with their skilled engineers to install OBS on more than 100 vessels. That’s more successful retrofits than any other suppliers within this highly specialist market. They know our technology and we trust their expertise, so we make an excellent team.
“Despite this, we’ve never had a formalised agreement, so I’m delighted to take our relationship one step further. This provides us with a truly global footprint, while it gives our customers local parts, engineers and the shortest possible lead times for their commissioning and maintenance needs.
“With the ratification of the IMO’s Ballast Water Management Convention, and USCG’s stringent requirements, shipowners must comply to sail. We, along with Goltens, are now ready and waiting worldwide to ensure that’s exactly what happen,” he said.
Optimarin claimed to be the first company to install a commercial BWT system in 2000 and has now sold in excess of 500 systems, with over 300 installed worldwide. Its most recent orders were with Sweden’s Wisby Tankers, for three systems and Hoëgh Autoliners, for a further two OBS.
“The market is picking up, because, quite simply, it has to,” Andersen stressed. “Compliance with the most stringent regulatory standards, namely USCG, is a must for any shipowner looking for optimal flexibility for their fleets. There’s no avoiding these important regulations and shipowners are now waking up to the fact that they need reliable, compliant, proven and easy to install systems… and they need them now.
“Our technology is second to none and, with this new agreement, so is our global commissioning and spare parts network. We are perfectly placed to give shipowners the global support they need, and the complete peace of mind they desire,” he said.
“We have had a long and successful relationship with Optimarin working together to retrofit vessels all around the world,” said Goltens Group COO, Roy Strand. “We are very pleased that Optimarin has chosen us to support them and their customers in the global after sales market. With this agreement, Optimarin customers can have confidence in getting professional system support anywhere Goltens operates."
Goltens provides worldwide service from over 25 locations in 15 countries worldwide, serving over 3,000 clients each year.