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Chinese companies Shanghai Huarun Dadong Dockyard (HRDD) and Shanghai Bluesoul Environmental Technology have signed an agreement to market and install exhaust gas cleaning systems, Seatrade Maritime reports.

As reported last month, DNV GL awarded scrubber manufacturer Shanghai Bluesoul with an approval in principle (AIP) in recognition of the technical feasibility of its BlueSulf scrubber system.

The AIP is the first of its kind for a scrubber according to the new DNV GL rule set, and the first for a Chinese scrubber manufacturer.

"Bluesoul has always been focused on researching and developing abatement systems for ships, and the partnership with HRDD is expected to greatly extend the reach of our systems to newbuildings or retrofits," Zhou Yang, COO of Bluesoul, is quoted as saying.

Shanghai Bluesoul's Bluesulf scrubber is a hybrid system that can switch between open- and closed-loop mode. The system is designed to allow greater flexibility to adjust to changes in water salinity and requirements in different ports; in some areas the use of open-loop scrubbers has been prohibited.

The Bluesulf system is designed to operate both in seawater and fresh water; it is said to reduce the sulphur content in exhaust gas to 0.1 percent or less, thus ensuring compliance with China's Emission Control Area (ECA) regulations - which require vessels to run on fuel with a maximum sulphur content of 0.5 percent when berthed - that have been in force in eleven ports in China since 1st January 2017, and the upcoming global sulphur cap of 0.5 percent in 2020.

Image: The BlueSulf scrubber system, developed by Shanghai Bluesoul Environmental Technology.