Ecospeed for thruster tunnel protection

The application to the four 25,235 grt newbuild vessels was performed at the Flensburger shipyard. In the same period, another thruster tunnel, on a vessel owned by the US Coast Guard, was also given Ecospeed protection at Fraser Shipyards in Superior, Wisconsin.

Grit blasting and application of the two layers is always done in the presence of one of Ecospeed’s inspectors and the timing is geared to the schedule of the yard as much as possible. This flexibility can be achieved with Ecospeed because the coating has no maximum over-coating time. This also allows the possibility of applying either of the two required layers at any time during the building process.

The coating is claimed to be both flexible and tough and to provide an impenetrable protective layer to the vessel while its flexibility enables the absorption of the forces that are produced by cavitation. Because of this, Ecospeed claims to prevent damage that is normally caused by cavitation, ensuring lasting protection.