MER Group Receives Notice of
Allowance by US Patent Office.
Ceiba, Puerto Rico- Marine Environmental
Remediation (“MER”) Group announced today that the United States Patent and
Trademark Office has issued a “Notice of Allowance” for MER Group’s advanced
technology used to reduce or eliminate the release of certain contaminants
during the vessel recycling process. The device, which MER has trademarked
under the name WaistcoatTM was designed to capture slag, dust, and other
contaminants released during conventional vessel demolition operations. The
WaistcoatTM concept and technology has uses in non-marine applications as well.
“MER Group is utilizing innovative business strategies, techniques and
technologies to transform the way ship recycling is performed on a global
basis” stated MER CEO Martin Vulaj, adding “We are particularly proud of this
technology as it presents a revolutionary new alternative to the dangerous and
environmentally harmful methods of beaching vessels for scrapping currently in
use in many parts of the world.”
MER Group has pioneered an environmentally
sensitive process of dismantling obsolete vessels that meets or exceeds all
U.S. EPA, OSHA, state and territories regulations. These standards will also
become the required performance levels for European Union-flagged and owned
ships under the new EU Ship Recycling Regulation.
Under US patent law, a Notice of Allowance is
the final step before actual patent issuance. It signifies that the US Patent
& Trademark Office has conducted its review and has found that the patent
should be granted. The MER Group’s WaistcoatTM is currently in use at MER’s
new, innovative ship recycling facility in Puerto Rico, and has proven
effective in protecting the environment from contaminants that, in conventional
vessel scrapping operations, would otherwise have fallen into the water or onto
the ground.
“The new EU Ship Recycling Regulation
requires that responsible companies in this industry must develop methods for
capturing, containing and eliminating sources of pollution from the ship
breaking process,” noted MER Group Founder and CCO Larry Kahn.
The WaistcoatTM technology is relatively
inexpensive to install and use, and the device is able to be re-used on
successive vessels undergoing demolition for recycling. MER Group’s research
and development staff is pursuing additional processes and products to protect
the environment while reducing safety risk for vessel recycling workers.
MER Group established their first
environmentally-safe ship recycling facility at the former US Naval Base at
Roosevelt Roads in Ceiba, Puerto Rico, in January 2016, and currently has 3
vessels and 3 oil rigs under or awaiting processing.
An estimated 75% of the vessels culled from
the world’s commercial fleet end up at yards in India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh
where the vessels are run aground for demolition and scrapping. There were 768
vessels scrapped world-wide in 2015, with projections for further vessel
demolitions rising due to the delivery of larger container vessels into the
global container fleet, and a surplus of capacity.
“We hope to dramatically change the way the
vessel scrapping industry treats the environment and its workers for the
better,” said Mr. Kahn.
Source: American
Journal of Transportation. 20 October 2016
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