IMS Group Buys OceanSaver Assets
Norway’s IMS group AS announced it has signed a purchase agreement with the OceanSaver Trustee to acquire the ballast water treatment system manufacturer’s intellectual property, certificates and assets following its bankruptcy filed on September 13, 2017.
OceanSaver had sold approximately 200 ballast water treatment systems and was among the first suppliers to be approved by IMO, to successfully complete the stringent test regime by the U.S. Coast Guard and to obtain a USCG type approval in December 2016.
However, “insufficient liquidity” led OceanSaver to file for bankruptcy after facing “significant downward pressure on equipment prices,” due to continued low shipbuilding activity as well as IMO’s MEPC 71 July decision to push back deadlines for ship owners to retrofit ballast water treatment systems.
Under the new deal, OceanSaver’s electro chlorination BWTS will now be sold and manufactured at TeamTec, a company within the IMS group.
“We think it is of significant added value for customers that the ballast water treatment product range is integrated into an already profitable and sustainable business with several maritime products. We would therefore not be dependent on a steady market, but will be able to adjust quickly, both with production capacity and personnel,” says Roy Langseth, CEO of the IMS group, a family owned supplier of technological solutions for the offshore and marine markets.
Langseth added this will provide stability and reliability for ship owners who plan to invest in ballast water treatment systems, one singular point of service for yards, as well as synergies between product ranges and a streamlined service organization for us as a maker.
