TEAMTEC – JUST ADD WATER

The latest news from TeamTec is a new ballast water treatment system, Avitalistm, developed by TeamTec’s partner, chemical powerhouse Evonik Industries of Germany.

Avitalis uses PERACLEAN®, a preparation specially developed by Evonik for ballast water. TeamTec will manufacture, sell and service Avitalis globally.

“We are in the process of obtaining US Coast Guard (USCG) approval, and preliminary tests indicate that Avitalis will meet their requirements,” says Chief Marketing Officer Olaf Evjen Olsen of TeamTec.

“Peraclean is highly effective, but also extremely green, as it degrades to oxygen, water, and a mild acidic acid, like vinegar. This should make it ‘futureproof’ against steadily more stringent requirements.”

Unlike some other BWT manufacturers, TeamTec does not fear the super-strict USCG demands: “Everyone can probably manage IMO standards, but it looks like we will be able to satisfy USCG regulations right out of the gate.” And with no UV or other high-power equipment, Avitalis can boast lower power consumption than the competition, another green perk.

Adding BWT to their portfolio should make TeamTec an even more interesting partner. “We already have good relations with the yards and owners, and healthy profitability from our existing products. With Avitalis, we can offer our customers another critical environmental component,” Olsen maintains.

Forging ahead

TeamTec sets themselves apart in other ways too. One of only a handful of equipment suppliers making their own parts from scratch, TeamTec uses in-house milling machines, and even operates their own foundry.

“We believe it keeps us in touch with our industrial roots, but it’s also a great source of inspiration for developing and improving our products,” says Olsen.

Olsen brings 20 years of marketing experience in Asia to TeamTec in tiny Tvedestrand, a picturesque village on Norway’s southwest coast with a maritime industrial history dating back to the early 1700s. TeamTec has taken its place in that history, and is now owned by local industrial consortium IMS Group. “Local ownership gives us a solid foundation,” Olsen maintains. “We feel that the company benefits from the experience and traditions in Tvedestrand.”

A global name

Working from this foundation, TeamTec has built a solid reputation with yards, shipowners and agents around the globe.

“Traveling for TeamTec is a true pleasure. We are greeted warmly wherever we go. Everyone seems to have a positive relationship to TeamTec.”

Though they offer other products and services, TeamTec have made their name primarily on incinerators and stripping ejectors, or specialized jet pumps. “Deepwater long-haul shipping is our primary market for the incinerators, but we also have dry land clients, for example in the Maldives.”

Olsen explains that a small island society resembles a ship in many respects, and getting rid of garbage in a responsible manner is one of the issues they face.

“They have waste management challenges, and we offer a sustainable solution that gives them greater independence.”

TeamTec was one of the fist Norwegian equipment suppliers to license production in China back in the 1980s, and they have achieved a good balance between domestic and foreign production. “We make the critical components at home, and the units are assembled in China for the Asian markets. It’s a good division of labour,” Olsen says, noting that market swings will always affect the balance.

In the latest mTeamTec nyarket swing, low oil prices have hit many segments in shipping, but a weakened Norwegian kroner is making prospects for growth at home look brighter than for a long time. “We feel confident that we will come out of the present crisis stronger than when we went in,” Olaf Olsen concludes.