Bio-Sea BWTS Installed in CMA CGM Antoine De Saint Exupéry.

France's BIO-UV Group has successfully installed and commissioned its Bio-Sea ballast water treatment system (BWTS) in CMA CGM's new flagship, the 400 m long, 20,600 TEU CMA CGM Antoine De Saint Exupéry.

The vessel, one of the largest containerships to be built by Hanjin Heavy Industries' yard in the Philippines, and the largest to fly the French flag, was christened in Le Havre earlier this month by the Minister of Economy and Finance, Bruno Le Maire, and the Minister in charge of Transport, Elisabeth Borne.

BIO-UV Group will also supply BIO-Sea Units to nine 22,000TEU CMA CGM vessels under construction in China, following the signing of a supply order earlier this year.

Benoit Gillmann, President and CEO, BIO-UV Group, said: “The successful installation and commissioning of the 2000m3/h capacity BIO-SEA unit to this new flagship, together with newbuild and retrofit installations planned in coming months, puts CMA CGM very much ahead in the game.

The BIO-Sea system incorporates two technologies in a single, fully automated skid-mounted or modular unit. The system first cleans ballast water using a screen filter, in order to reduce the amount of total suspended particles present in the seawater.

The second technology – BIO-UV Group's patented UV-based disinfection technology – treats the water and eliminates all microorganisms without the addition of chemicals or active substances. The water passes through a reactor where UV rays destroy the microorganisms' DNA.