DESMI Ocean Guard shares sold to DESMI A/S

The transaction gives DESMI A/S full ownership of the company, which has two successfully tested Ballast Water Treatment systems in its portfolio. The newly developed RayClean^TM system was launched recently but has already now secured several orders with the first systems being currently under installation.

Chairman of DESMI Ocean Guard’s board and Head of Maersk Maritime Technology Bo Cerup-Simonsen comments on the announcement: “With the agreement we have secured firm commitment to the long term plans of DESMI Ocean Guard. Selling our share is a consequence of the Maersk Group strategy to focus on our core businesses and in line with the ownership plans laid out when DESMI Ocean Guard was established. Being outside our core activities DESMI Ocean Guard deserves a dedicated owner with full focus on developing the business going forward. With the transfer of full ownership to DESMI we are confident DESMI Ocean Guard is in the right position to succeed technically as well as commercially”.

On the achievements so far, Bo Cerup-Simonsen adds; ”The aim of DESMI Ocean Guard was to create a solution to Ballast Water Treatment which satisfies the needs of a high performance ship owner and operator like Maersk. Bringing with us the operational knowledge we have contributed to the creation of such a system while gaining valuable insights”.

Having observed the shipboard trials onboard Thurø Maersk Bo Cerup-Simonsen continues: “We are very satisfied with having tested the equipment first hand. Especially we noted the system’s ability to operate in the various, often challenging water conditions. We were pleased with the system performance also in harbors with freshwater and water with low UV-transmittance and with the feedback from our crews during testing with regard to the ease of operation”.

At DESMI Ocean Guard we were very happy to receive the positive feedback of our systems in operation, and it proves that the objectives we made for the development of our systems were right. CEO Rasmus Folsø explains: “In the long term we believe that the key parameters of a successful BWTS will be: a) reliable performance and compliance with both IMO and USCG discharge standards under all typical operating conditions, b) easy operation and little maintenance, and finally c) low total cost of ownership. In our opinion we have succeeded with all three parameters”.

Commenting on the change of ownership for DESMI Ocean Guard, Rasmus Folsø adds; “Working with Maersk and UltraAqua on the development of our systems has been a great privilege. Too many vendors of BWTS are today marketing systems without clearly informing about their limitations. But, ifyou do not know the limits of the system you are buying, you do not know whether the system will be able to comply with the discharge standards. Being very aware of this issue both Maersk and UltraAqua have pushed our systems to be tested under extremely challenging water conditions with low UV-transmittance, and we have been able to demonstrate unrivalled performance. The fit with DESMI is excellent and the long term commitment we have now received will enable us to fully unlock the commercial potential of the systems”.

DESMI A/S is very pleased to have been able to acquire all shares in DESMI Ocean Guard A/S. Group CEO Henrik Sørensen comments: “The past years’ close collaboration between all shareholders in DESMI Ocean Guard has been very rewarding, and it is this collaboration which today forms the basis for the developed systems. The shareholders have brought their own competences to the table, which has resulted in systems we feel fit well with our company slogan: Proven Technology! Now we look forward to the ratification of the IMO ballast water management convention and the associated commercialization of the developed systems. DESMI Ocean Guard A/S fits 100% within our current production and sales channels and we expect it will become an important contributor to the ambitious growth strategy of DESMI A/S”.

DESMI Ocean Guard A/S was established by A.P. Moller – Maersk A/S, DESMI A/S and UltraAqua A/S in 2009. The company is located in Aalborg, Denmark, and its main activity is development and sales of systems for removal of living organisms from ballast water discharged by ships. The company has already developed one IMO type approved and US Coast Guard AMS accepted system, the OxyClean system. The required type approval testing for the new RayClean system has been finalized, and type approval is expected within the next months.