Ecospeed demonstrator vessel embarks on roadshow

It was attended by shipowners, shipbuilders and representatives from the Green Award Foundation.

Erwin Strik, Subsea Industries’ sales officer, said: “Ecospeed is not a foul-release paint but rather a coating system that required a completely different, more cost-effective and environmentally-acceptable approach to hull protection and anti-fouling.”

He added: “Paint degradation is typical of traditional marine hull coatings, resulting in the need for reblast and recoats more or less every time the vessel docks. This repeat business model is costing shipowners and is completely unnecessary.”

Guests boarded Subsea Industries’ maintenance and dive support vessel, in Maassluis near Rotterdam, to see how vessels coated with Ecospeed can be cleaned effortlessly.

It is also able to be cleaned legally in harbours, such as the Port of Rotterdam, which has banned the underwater hull cleaning of conventional hull coatings.

Divers cleaned the catamaran’s hull which was coated with Ecospeed, the demonstration showed that the water remained clean and no paint loss or toxic plumes were emitted. This was of interested to the attendees from Green Award Foundation.

“With Ecospeed there is no need to reblast and recoat the hull; there is no chance of corrosion, no impact on the environment and, if regular hull cleaning is carried out, fuel savings of up to 40% can be achieved,” said Boud Van Rompay, Subsea Industries’ executive director.

“What’s more, if Ecospeed is applied to ice-going ships and the vessel is maintained in good condition during service, Classification Societies have ruled that the thickness of steel plating may be reduced by up to 1mm,” he added.

Using specially-designed tools and equipment, divers from the underwater hull cleaning specialist Hydrex cleaned the vessel in just two hours.

The hard coat requires just two applications with a curing time of three hours between each one although a typical soft paint requires four to five coats with a curing time of 12 hours between each.