Aalborg Industries invests in ballast water treatment

5 May 2009

As a part of the company’s environmental strategy the business foundation is now expanded at Aalborg Industries to include treatment of water in ballast tanks. As majority shareholder in a new joint venture with the German company Aquaworx, a new constellation has been established to meet the market demands for certified water treatment equipment concurrently with the implementation of the adopted IMO regulations within global sea trade in the coming years.

On 30 April 2009, Aalborg Industries and Aquaworx signed a joint venture agreement for development and global marketing of systems for ballast water treatment. Aquaworx is owned by the German listed company PlasmaSelect. Aquaworx has a well-functioning and patented technology which until now has been applied to water treatment in landbased plants. With Aalborg Industries as partner, water treatment systems from Aquaworx will be further developed for maritime applications and marketed and produced competitively in close co-operation with the Aalborg Industries Group.

Aalborg Industries will hold 60% as majority shareholder of the new company and Aquaworx the remaining 40%. The existing product technology will including the IMO approval and patent right be transferred to the new company as a joint ownership. The joint venture company will be established in Singapore and the share capital amount to approx. EUR 10m corresponding to DKK 75m.

Ballast water treatment is a future requirement to prevent the biological unbalance caused by the estimated 12 billion tons of ballast water transported across the seas by ocean-going ships. Thousand of species and microorganisms are transported worldwide as ”stowaways” in the ballast water creating unpredictable problems for the different ecosystems when ballast water tanks are emptied or refilled.

Up to 2020, the global market potential within ballast water treatment is estimated to become substantial and constitute a three-figure billion amount. The speed of implementation will be dependent on the international ratification pace in connection with the already adopted IMO regulations (International Maritime Organisation).

”The Aalborg Industries Group is the perfect partner for Aquaworx”, explained Peter Falk, managing director of Aquaworx Deutschland GmbH. "With the Group’s market leadership within maritime energy and safety systems and its global position around the world within shipbuilding and service, we see a great possibility for our technology to become the preferred solution in this market.”

”Aalborg Industries has a very clear environmental strategy for developing and selling plants that can offer solutions to the shipbuilding industry and the world’s shipowners that make it possible to meet the increasing environmental regulations in the future,” stated Jan Vestergaard Olsen, President and CEO of Aalborg Industries. "We have, therefore, special focus on development activities within reduction of fuel consumption and CO2, cleaning of exhaust gas from diesel engines and now treatment of ballast water. The Aquaworx technology and the new partnership have opened up this growth market to Aalborg Industries at a pace which would not have been possible without the joint venture agreement.”

For further information regarding this press release, please contact:

Aalborg Industries A/S, Denmark, Mr Jan Vestergaard Olsen, President/CEO, tel. +45 99 30 40 00.

Pressemeddelelse på dansk (in Danish)

About Aquaworx
Aquaworx AG, headquartered in Arbon, Switzerland, is a subsidiary of PlasmaSelect AG, Munich, Germany. By means of the development and production of water and fluid disinfection and filtration technologies (patent pending) at the Marina Horn plant on Lake Constance, Switzerland, the company makes a substantial contribution to efficient resource management. The platform technology's method of operation is based on the brilliant combination of UV radiation and ultrasound into one system, which efficiently eliminates germs and prevents their reproduction. The Aquaworx product family combines continuous high performance with a level of efficiency previously unknown in the branch. The primary application areas in the field of water and filtration include drinking water and wastewater treatment, filtration of fluids, ballast water treatment in the nautical sector, treatment of pool, drinking, and process water in summer residences and Legionella prevention in nursing homes, hospitals, and hotel facilities. Global sales are handled by Munich-based Aquaworx Deutschland GmbH.

Further information is available at www.aquaworx.de.

About PlasmaSelect AG
Founded in 1998 as a specialist in the sale of infusion and irrigation solutions and complementary medical products, today PlasmaSelect AG is an innovative investment holding company on the healthcare and new technologies market. The holding comprises four operating subsidiaries with a total of almost 200 staff worldwide. In fiscal 2008 (as of 30 November 2008) the company reported consolidated sales of EUR 34 million.

PlasmaSelect AG is listed on the Regulated Market (Prime Standard) of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange (securities ID 547 180). For more information, please see www.plasmaselect.de

About Aalborg Industries:

Aalborg Industries is an international group with subsidiaries in Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands, Dubai, Singapore, Japan, China, Korea, Brazil, Vietnam, Australia and the USA. A network of agents support the sales activities. The revenue outside Denmark amounts to 95%.

Production of the Group’s products takes place at its own factories in Denmark, China, Brazil and  Vietnam as well as at selected external outsourcing partners. The number of employees in 2008 totals about 2,700.

Aalborg Industries’ core business is to produce, supply and maintain steam, heat and safety solutions for marine and maritime oil and gas applications, i.e. steam boilers, waste heat recovery boilers, thermal oil heaters, burners, control systems as well as heat exchangers and inert gas systems. As a supplement to the activities in the global marine and offshore markets, Aalborg Industries also supplies boiler plants and services within selected land-based sectors.