Interlake to fit two more bulkers with Dupont scrubbers

The bulk carrier Lee A. Tregurtha was originally built as a World War II tanker

AUGUST 17, 2015 — Ohio-based Interlake Steamship Company is to fit two more of its ships with DuPont Marine Scrubber systems supplied by DuPont Sustainable Solutions subsidiary Belco Technologies Corporation (BELCO).

The vessels are the M/V James R. Barker, the first 1,000-foot class vessel to be constructed entirely on the Great Lakes back in 1976, and the Lee A. Tregurtha, originally built as a Word War II tanker in 1942.

Both are bulk carriers operating on the Great Lakes on the Canada-United States border. Each of the carriers will be equipped with two closed loop exhaust gas scrubbers from DuPont. Interlake previously had two DuPont BELCO Marine Scrubbers installed on its M/V Honorable James L. Oberstar dry bulk carrier in January 2015.

Mark Barker, President of Interlake Steamship Company, says, “DuPont has been an incredible partner in working with us on this effort of implementing freshwater closed-loop scrubbers on a retrofit basis. We are pleased with the performance of not only the scrubber units but DuPont’s level of service, expertise and dedication to these important projects. We look forward to working with them further as we continue to supply our fleet with these scrubber systems.”

The four new closed loop scrubbers will be single-stream in-line scrubbers, each connected to a main engine. They are designed to meet all U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. EPA and IMO exhaust gas and washwater emission requirements.

“It is generally a challenge to retrofit older vessels like these with a scrubber, but thanks to our uniquely compact, slim, low pressure-drop design we will be able to fit the scrubbers in the existing funnel for both ships, which makes installation of these types of scrubbers easy,” says Tom Saley, President BELCO.

Installation of the scrubbers is planned for January 2016 with testing estimated to take place on the Great Lakes in spring 2016.