The requirement of incinerators for ocean going ships is mandatory. The reasons for this can be found in the International Maritime Organisation`s (IMO) regulations for Marine and Ship waste Incinerators.

The IMO`s Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC) has formulated regulations for the prevention of pollution by garbage and sludge oil from ships into the sea.

Shipping lines, Cruise Ships, Tankers, Coast Guards, Navy, Oil Drilling Platforms, etc. have to strictly follow these regulations. Applications are also found in on-shore incineration facilities as well as oil fired power stations.

MEPC.244(66) specifies  standard specifications for incinerators and the manufacturers of incinerators have to comply with these standards for shipboard incinerators.

The European Community`s Marine Equipment Directive (MED) 96/98/EC seeks to harmonize the uniform implementation of IMO standards and procedures for approval of all marine equipment. Annexure A-1/2-7 of the MED covers IMO type approval of Marine Incinerators.

IMO type approval is an elaborate process of making, testing and operating the incinerator system to the satisfaction of a reputed independent international inspection agency, who then provides the type approval certificate.

While building the machine, the manufacturer has to consider the ship`s restricted space availability, the rolling and pitching the ship is constantly subjected to and the ability of the incinerator to be run in automatic mode to dispose of both solid and liquid wastes without manual intervention over an extended period of time.

This is quite challenging and can take years of work and testing. The incinerator manufacturer has to satisfy himself about his own abilities as well as the expected performance of the system, before venturing into this task.

It took us more than 3 years to obtain the IMO Type Approval Certificate and we are quite happy our efforts are being rewarded by the users who have kept faith in an Indian company to `make in India` a Ship/Shipboard Incinerator of international quality.  These incinerators are in operation in the southern hemisphere for some time now and we have live enquiries from many countries.

More here - SWR Marine Incinerator