Philip Chaabane News

Bermudan tanker owner and operator Team Tankers International has committed four additional ships to using the the anti-barnacle active agent Selektope following fouling prevention performance during a 40-month trial of an antifouling coating containing the technology on an MR tanker in their fleet.The vertical sides of the46,067DWT chemical and products carrier Team Calypso were coated with Chugoku Marine Paints’ SEAFLO NEO CF-Premium antifouling coating that contains Selektope during its five-year drydocking at the Sembcorp shipyard, Singapore in 2015.During the last 40 months the MR tanker has been in active operation across a wide range of trade routes globally…

The number of ships using Selektope-containing antifouling coatings more than double in 2019 with the largest ever single volume order received for the barnacle-repelling antifouling ingredient Selektope coupled with strong commercial developments in late 2018, claims a press note.Placed by the marine coating manufacturers Chugoku Marine Paints (CMP) in December 2018, this follow up order fulfils CMP’s previous minimum commitments contained in supply agreements signed in early 2018 ahead of time, it said.The order will be delivered during 2019 for use in CMP’s range of existing coating products containing Selektope that target both new building and dry-docking demands.Selektope is an organic…

I-Tech AB, the company behind the development of the antifouling ingredient Selektope, has applied for admission to trade the company’s shares on the Nasdaq First North Stockholm exchange.The first day of trading of the I-Tech AB (publ) company on Nasdaq First North is estimated to be May 28, 2018. The listing is preceded with a share issue of a maximum SEK 44.1 million ($4.9mln) . The company is valued at approximately SEK 200.4 million ($22 mln).The floating of the company’s shares on the Nasdaq First North stock exchange market will create a robust platform for continued growth and business development. It will enable I-Tech to invest in further opportunities in order to strengthen the business and to secure the ability to grow in the face of increasing customer demand.

I-Tech AB, the Swedish developer of the bio-repellent antifouling ingredient Selektope, has signed a supply agreement with a Japanese paint manufacturer representing the largest ever single order of the technology to-date. The large volume order was placed by Japanese paint manufacturer Chugoku Marine Paints (CMP) as part of a long-term supply agreement between I-Tech and CMP to support the growth of CMP’s Selektope-containing antifouling product portfolio. The supply agreement…

As global water temperatures increase, global ‘biofouling hotspots’ in subtropical/tropical areas are intensifying, exposing newbuildings at the world’s major shipyards to greater risk of hard fouling during the outfitting process. The effects of intense hard fouling on idle newbuilds can have great impact on a newly applied hull coating and on a vessel’s performance in sea trials. In response to this problem, a new antifouling coating specifically targeting hard biofouling prevention during the outfitting period was brought to market by Danish marine coatings specialist Hempel in late 2017. GLOBIC 9500S includes the unique antifouling…

A brand-new antifouling product containing the bio-repellent ingredient Selektope has been launched onto the global market. The increasing diversification in the range of Selektope-containing products available to ship owners suitable for different vessel requirements demonstrates the unrivalled versatility of the antifouling ingredient. It also demonstrates a growing commitment to the technology as demand from ship owners for antifouling coatings comprising Selektope intensifies. SEA GRANDPRIX 880HS PLUS is the third product Chugoku Marine Paints (CMP) has launched that contains Selektope.

Stena RoRo, who has four newbuild RoPax ferries on order at the AVIC yard in Weihai, China, has signed a contract to coat the hulls with paint that incorporates the bio-repellent antifouling ingredient Selektope. According to Selektope’s developer, Gothenburg based bio-tech company I-Tech AB, its pharmacological mode of action combats barnacle settlement on ships’ hulls by temporarily stimulating the barnacle larvae’s swimming behavior. The organic, non-metal compound is characterized by high efficacy at extremely low concentrations (0.1 percent w/w)…

i-Tech's CEO Philip Chaabane is intent on keeping hulls clean, one barnacle at a time. Please provide a brief personal/professional background, with insight on how you’ve come to occupy the CEO seat at I-Tech. I have a Swedish and French MSc in Engineering and have spent some six years in the aerospace industry working for Volvo Aero (today GKN) with jet engine components within product development as well as production and supply chain in general. Robust long term business plans…

The first branded marine coatings to feature the antifouling ingredient Selektope have been launched by coatings major Chugoku Marine Paints, Ltd. (CMP). Developed by I-TECH AB, Selektope’s pharmacological action is unique in the marine antifouling application. It repels barnacle settlement on ships’ hulls by temporarily stimulating the barnacle larvae’s swimming behavior. CMP’s new generation ‘SEAFLO NEO’ range of antifoulings make the Selektope solution available as a high performance product for mainstream operations…

Gothenburg-based I-Tech’s Selektope antifouling agent has secured one of the prestigious European Marine Engineering Awards 2016, in recognition of the breakthrough marine coating ingredient’s Environmental Performance. The Award was presented by Robert Ashdown, Secretary General of the International Association of Classification Societies at the European Marine Engineering Conference gala dinner in Amsterdam on 13th April 2016. I-Tech Chief Executive Philip Chaabane said: “It is a great honour for the environmental performance of Selektope to be recognized by an Award that takes into account the independent panel of European Marine engineering judges and a public vote.

Gothenburg-based I-Tech’s Selektope antifouling system has been shortlisted in the Environmental Performance category by the judging panel for the European Marine Engineering Awards. The winner of this Award will be announced at the European Marine Engineering Conference and Awards gala dinner in Amsterdam on April 13, 2016. The Environmental Performance Award, sponsored by DNV GL, is presented to a product, process or management approach that was brought to market for the first time in 2015, or which was significantly improved or relaunched. The Award judges select solutions best able to demonstrate actual, or potential, environmental benefits as a result of implementation. Philip Chaabane, chief executive, I-Tech, says: “It is a great honor to be shortlisted for this award.

Following the approval of Selektope under the EU’s Biocidal Products Regulation, developer I-Tech reports extraordinary uptake for antifouling coatings that include the industry’s first pharmacological means of combatting barnacle settlement. In the first month of 2016, orders amounted to double the volume achieved during the whole of 2015, with antifoulings including Selektope being applied for complete hull coating projects. I-Tech CEO Philip Chaabane says that the higher than anticipated demand from shipowners and acceptance by major coatings suppliers of performance claims for the biotechnology solution represent a decisive movement in the marine paints industry.

Final sign-off of the antifouling active substance Selektope by the European Commission coincides the first disclosure of a commercial application in Asia. The first publicly-disclosed commercial application for a marine coating featuring Selektope will start on November 1 in Singapore, swiftly after developer I-Tech secured European Commission sign-off that the revolutionary antifouling substance can also be used by yards anywhere in Europe. Formal EC adoption of the approval regulation has been signed by EC President Jean-Claude Juncker, meaning that Selektope is permitted for use under the EU Biocidal Products Directive in professional and non-professional antifouling products throughout the EU from January 1, 2016.

Final sign-off of the antifouling active substance Selektope by the European Commission coincides the first disclosure of a commercial application in Asia. The first publicly-disclosed commercial application for a marine coating featuring Selektope will start on November 1 in Singapore, swiftly after developer I-Tech secured European Commission (EC) sign-off that the antifouling substance can also be used by yards anywhere in Europe. Formal EC adoption of the approval regulation has been signed by EC President Jean-Claude Juncker, meaning that Selektope is permitted for use under the EU Biocidal Products Directive in professional and nonprofessional antifouling products throughout the EU from January 1, 2016.

On the 8th of July, the European Union Standing Committee on Biocidal Products gave notice that Selektope is approved under the EU Biocidal Products Directive as an antifouling substance for use in both professional and non-professional antifouling products. “We are very pleased to receive the final confirmation that Selektope complies with the demanding EU legislation for biocides,” says Dr Cecilia Ohlauson, Regulatory Affairs Manager for I-Tech. “It has been a long process so we are very eager to take the next step towards having Selektope-containing antifouling products on the European market”. Selektope has already received regulatory approval in Japan, Korea and China and is currently under evaluation in the USA.

I-Tech informed that Selektope, a marine biocide used to improve ship hull performance and reduce maintenance, has been approved for use in China. Selektope has been approved for use as an antifouling biocide by the Ministry of Environmental Protection of the People’s Republic of China. “We are pleased to receive approval from the Chinese authorities of our antifouling technology following a rigorous environmental risk assessment,” said Philip Chaabane, Managing Director of I-Tech. Selektope has already been approved in Japan and South Korea and is under registration in the EU.

I-Tech says it has entered into a non-exclusive supply agreement with Chugoku Marine Paints Ltd (CMP) for use of I-Tech’s proprietary product, Selektope, in commercial antifouling paints. Selektope is to be used as the principle biocide in new products to be brought to the market by CMP. The suppliers say that CMPs decision marks not only an important milestone for I-Tech but also sets the starting point for antifoulings containing a new selective biocide with a repellant mode of action and with minimal environmental footprint. Paints containing Selektope [prevent barnacles attaching to the hull] will be of particular value to customers in the marine industry.