Subsea Industries has voiced to the industry that they have solved the cardinal problems associated with trying to square optimum hull performance with effective, environmentally-safe ship hull protection.
They company has optimised its Ecospeed range of hard coat marine coatings to reduce hull friction by up to 40%, resulting in a comparable percentage saving in fuel consumption.
The company say that they have not only optimised hull surface roughness, thus drag, resulting in fuel savings in the 20-40% range, but they have also solved the corrosion and cavitation erosion problems that can plague marine coatings systems.
The Ecospeed range of coatings have a dimpled effect on application which is scientifically proven to improve hydrodynamic efficiency. However, Subsea industries says that while other coating systems degrade overtime, resulting in increased fouling, regular hull cleaning improves the coating’s performance, creating a smoother finish, resulting in significant continuous improvements to operational performance.
By optimising surface roughness to its absolutely attainable optimum limits without future deterioration or degradation, Subsea Industries considers the age-old problem of hull surface friction solved – something that, they say, even silicon-based systems cannot fully achieve.
The range is non-toxic, therefore Subsea Industries has halted ship-to-sea emissions of volatile organic compounds and other harmful toxins common in conventional hull coatings, such as copper and dibutyltin dilaurate.
In 2008, stringent tests were carried out to provide scientific data and to authenticate the non-toxicity of the Ecospeed hull performance technology.
This research concluded that the coating is 100% free of toxic substances and that there is no negative effect on the water quality or the marine environment at any point of its application or use. Moreover, the massive amounts of VOC and zinc anode emission associated with conventional hull coating systems are reduced to almost zero.
Subsea Industries now has more than 500 ship references for its marine hard coating technology.
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