AkzoNobel and ECOsubsea further strengthened their partnership with a new sustainable hull management tool.
ECOsubsea, a company specialising in providing sustainable robotic biofouling solutions, has partnered with the coating manufacturer AkzoNobel
for an innovative hull management tool: “intertrac Hullcare”. It allows to safely remove hull fouling without discarding it in the water and without damaging the hull coating.
New coated hulls ensure that vessels operate properly with minimum emissions and amount of fuel. Regardless of coating, however, hulls deteriorate because slime, barnacles and other aquatic species attach themselves, causing an increase in drag and friction that results in increased fuel consumption. The new system removes over 97% of all the fouling detritus, which is then safely pumped ashore and can be used as biofuel.
“Our decade long collaboration with AkzoNobel gives their customers the ability to plan maintenance with the peace of mind of sustainable collection and disposal of hull biofouling,” stated Tor Østervold, CEO of ECOsubsea.
Port authorities and costal states are restricting hull cleaning methods without capture, due to the environmental risk of releasing fouling and coating residues into the water. High-performance coatings and ECOsubsea system meet the industry standards, providing a fully sustainable solution.
“ECOsubsea’s system works by having a robotic cleaning system, move over a ship’s hull, gently removing the fouling off the hull without damaging the vessel’s hull coating, and then capturing the debris for processing and safe disposal ashore. This is an important factor to keep this service available in ports that are increasingly concerned with their local water quality,” concluded Østervold.