GALIL ELYON, Israel, Apr. 10, 2012 -- Amiad has signed a long-term supply agreement with Calgon Carbon Corporation (NYSE: CCC) to provide its Arkal automatic self-cleaning disc filtration technology for incorporation within Calgon Carbon's Hyde GUARDIAN® Ballast Water Treatment Systems. The agreement was signed through the Company's wholly-owned subsidiary, Amiad USA Inc., and with Hyde Marine Inc., a subsidiary of Calgon Carbon.
"This agreement will ensure we have a guaranteed supply of pre-treatment water filtration systems which, we believe, are technically superior to other systems currently used to treat ballast water," said James A. Sullivan, Calgon Carbon's senior vice president - Americas. "Arkal's disc filtration technology will perform a vital function within our system. Also, with this partnership, we will be able to leverage Amiad's expertise to work together in developing other innovative solutions to protect the marine environment from invasive species that are transported by ballast water."
The ballast water market is one of Amiad's target growth segments. More than 10 billion tons of ballast water are carried in ships each year containing thousands of species of aquatic animals and plants. This creates problems for the marine environment and human health, and threatens economies that depend on healthy aquatic ecosystems. Treatment systems are more effective and less costly and time consuming than deep sea exchange. In addition, with increasing international regulation, there is a growing demand from ship owners and operators for solutions that will enable them to meet these obligations.
Under the terms of this non-exclusive agreement, which has a minimum period of 10 years, the Company will supply its Arkal automatic self-cleaning disc technology for use as an integrated component of the Hyde GUARDIAN Ballast Water Treatment Systems. The combined solution will be used on both new ship builds as well as to retrofit existing ships, and will be applied to US and international carriers.
Calgon Carbon is a global manufacturer and supplier of activated carbon and innovative treatment systems for purifying water and air and optimising production processes. Headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, it has operations in North America, Europe and Asia. Calgon Carbon's Hyde Marine group has over 30 years' experience in the marine industry, and its systems use ultraviolet and disc filtration technology to kill or inactivate organisms contained in ships' ballast water. The Hyde GUARDIAN unit received International Maritime Organization (IMO) Type Approval in April 2009 and was the first ballast water treatment system accepted in the U.S. Coast Guard's Shipboard Technology Evaluation Program.
"We're delighted to have signed this significant agreement, which provides us with a long-term partnership with an established global player in this field," said Tom Akehurst, President of Amiad USA. "Calgon Carbon has chosen to put our technology at the heart of its solution, demonstrating the strength of Amiad's offering. We look forward to working with them as we continue to expand in this key market."
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