Desmi Ocean Guard signs commercial lease agreement with Port of Aalborg

The fight against the transport of invasive species around the world via ballast water intensified last year with new legislation requiring all new ships to comply with the so-called D2 standard, which limits the amount of viable organisms ships can discharge. A standard that all existing ships by law must meet before September 2024. The stricter legislation is strikingly evident at Desmi Ocean Guard, which has been developing and manufacturing ballast water management systems since 2009.

The company has in recent years experienced tremendous growth in demand for ballast water management systems and in just two years Desmi Ocean Guard has gone from six to thirty-two employees working with project management, engineering, sales and development while manufacturing, commissioning and service are handled by their affiliates in the Desmi Group. This rapid growth has led the company to outgrow their existing facilities and consequently to sign a contract with Port of Aalborg to lease a 1,200-square-metre office building:

– Things are moving quickly for Desmi Ocean Guard. We have grown enormously in recent years, due in part to the new legislation on the management of ballast water on ships. It is estimated that only 15 percent of vessels currently in service have the right cleaning systems and we can clearly notice a significant demand for new technologies and systems which will become mandatory installations on all vessels within few years. Consequently, we expect to grow even more in the coming years, says Rasmus Folsø, CEO of Desmi Ocean Guard, and continues:

– We have long had a desire to find a place with space to expand and grow further. It was therefore ideal, when we learned that Port of Aalborg had a vacant building with both offices and storage space for our instrumentation and tools. The expansion of our facilities is a completely natural step in the company’s development and we can now accommodate even more skilled employees.

Good framework for cooperation
Desmi Ocean Guard’s new office building is located close to both their parent company Desmi, which develops and services pumps, pump systems and environmental equipment, and their sister company Desmi Pumping Technology, which manufactures Desmi Ocean Guard’s cleaning systems. This was a key factor in the choice of premises:

– It was important for us to be close to Desmi headquarters, as we have close cooperation around purchasing and production. With the new office building we have easy access to our production facilities and can follow our systems at each stage, explains Rasmus Folsø.

Significant development of Blue Denmark
Port of Aalborg is pleased with the new cooperation with Desmi Ocean Guard, which according to commercial manager, Jeppe Faber, plays a significant role in the development of Blue Denmark:

– We are proud to enter into a cooperation with Desmi Ocean Guard, which is one of the leading companies in Aalborg and an important member of the maritime cluster of internationally renowned companies located in Northern Jutland. Desmi Ocean Guard has performed tremendously well for a long time and we are delighted that we can now with this agreement contribute to ensuring the necessary framework to further support the company’s growth adventure, says Jeppe Faber.

Desmi Ocean Guard has just moved into the newly renovated premises, and in November Desmi Ocean Guard’s sister company Desmi DeServe, which performs service and commissioning of cleaning systems aboard numerous ships, will also move into the premises.

For further information, please contact:

• CEO, Rasmus Folsø, Desmi Ocean Guard, tel. +45 41 16 15 07 and rfo@desmi.com
• Commercial manager, Jeppe Faber, Port of Aalborg A/S, tel. +45 29 20 72 03 and jfa@portofaalborg.com
• Press service: Maja Thordahl Schou, Communications consultant, Port of Aalborg A/S, tel. +45 22 61 83 08 and mts@portofaalborg.com