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Green ISSA

British Atlantic Survey’s research
vessel Ernest Shackleton

Protecting hulls

from hidden

gremlins

T
he hidden gremlins of fouling, corrosion and cavitation maintenance and the safety hazards caused by worn and failing
rudders out of proportion to the relatively small surface area.
damage on ships’ hulls, rudders and running gear can be
major loss-makers for unwary owners, operators and With Ecoshield, ships experiencing heavy cavitation damage

managers. The severest cases of underwater damage and fouling to their rudders have seen no further cavitation damage for up
can reduce a vessel’s cruising speed by up to two knots and to 10 years after application, and no need for a replacement

increase its fuel consumption by as much as 30%.coating during the life of the ship. Ecoshield can also be used for
A Belgium-based company, Subsea Industries, part of the newbuilds. In this case the coating is applied to key parts such as

Hydrex group, has produced a series of environmentally-friendly thrusters by the manufacturers before construction work starts.
coating solutions for these underwater gremlins and hazards – The third coating in the series, Ecolock, has been specially

Ecospeed, Ecoshield, Ecolock and Ecoix.produced for the offshore industry. The glasslake reinforced
Ecospeed is a glasslake reinforced resin coating that protects coating gives extra-robust protection against hull corrosion,

the hulls of cruise ships, ferries and icebreakers for the serviceprotection and maintenance coating for offshore vessels such
life of the vessel. It can be used for both ships in service and as FPSOs, FSOs, FLRUs. It enables vessels to be protected from

newbuilds. If, for instance, an owner applies this certiied abrasion- corrosion for at least 15 to 25 years – depending on the number

resistant coating to the hull of a newbuild icebreaker, it will reduce of coats – without having to drydock, repair or replace the coating.
the thickness of the steel needed for its ice-belt (where the steel Ecolock can be cleaned underwater as often as needed to

is usually thicker-than-normal to combat the ice) and thus make a meet the UWILD (underwater inspection in lieu of drydocking)
signiicant saving on his material costs.and weight requirements of an offshore vessel. “Offshore units are

Seven years ago, Ecospeed was applied to the hull of the designed to stay on location for 15, 20 and even up to 30 years. So
British Antarctic Survey’s Royal Research Ship, Ernest Shackleton. hull integrity and corrosion protection is a major factor. Another

Since then the vessel which operates in severe ice conditions key factor behind the hull coating system is the need for a clean,
much of the time has docked only twice and needed just a few environmentally safe hull to facilitate the required classiication

litres of the coating for small touch-ups.society inspections twice every ive years,” said Christophe
Ecoshield, a reinforced version of Ecospeed, is applied to Verhoeven, Subsea Industries’ Promotion Oficer.

rudders, bulbous bows, stabiliser ins, thruster nozzles and other Subsea are also launching a specialist iller for seagoing

underwater ship gear needing greater protection from corrosion, vessels called Ecoix this summer. The iller is used when corroded
cavitation damage and pitting. It is applied in two coats and its rudders and underwater devices need to be restored to their

embedded glass platelets make it impermeable for water.original shape and smoothness before recoating. Because it uses
Currently the need to repair rudders, involving welding and the same basic resin as Ecoshield, the coating can also be applied

resurfacing in drydock, is almost universal with the costs of rudderan hour after the iller. u

Issue 69 2016 | The Ship Supplier | 27