Subsea Industries News

In 2019 Finnish shipping company Eckerö coated the open cargo deck of their roro passenger ferry Finbo Cargo with Ecospeed. This was done to protect the deck against damage from cars and cargo. One year later the deck was still in excellent condition, in strong contrast to previous years. As a result, Eckerö decided to coat the ice belt and most of the hull with Ecospeed to offer it the same lasting protection.“We coated the weather deck with good result,” said Daniel Olsén, Technical Manager with Eckerö Group.

Three years ago, an Ecospeed hull coating was applied on Antarctic, a shallow draft anchor handling tug supply (AHTS) vessel owned by Ark Shipping Company. The success of this application led the vessel's owner to order the same protection for its next two shallow draught AHTS vessels: Polar and Polus. Building of these vessels will start in 2021 and will again take place at the Atlas Shipyard in Kocaeli, Turkey.Ark Shipping is a Russian river and sea shipping company that has been operating in the transport and logistics market since 1992.

Subsea Industries develops durable, non-toxic hard hull coating systems. Ecospeed was the first coating and was launched in 2002, but since then a line of other products has been added.EcoshieldEcoshield is an enhanced version of Ecospeed. Small but significant variations of the Ecospeed formula have been tested on rudders since 2002 with extraordinary results. After years of testing (initially under the name Ecospeed Strong) the product was launched in 2013.Ecoshield is designed to protect rudders and other underwater running gear against the cavitation phenomenon: against pitting…

Subsea Industries coating systems offer many benefits to shipowners, ship managers and operators. Applying Ecospeed (or any other Subsea Industries coating) to a vessel can save much worry, time and hassle for superintendents and shipyards during drydockings, as well as save expenses for the owner. Like all Subsea Industries products, Ecospeed is an extremely hard coating system with optimized hydrodynamics that can easily be maintained in service. This has a huge potential for reducing total cost of ownership of the vessel.

A new study seeks to determine the extent to which biofouling on ships’ hulls is contributing to the spread of invasive aquatic species in the Mediterranean Sea – a phenomenon commonly associated with ship ballasting operations. According to recent research published by Tel Aviv University’s School of Zoology, half the ships passing along the Mediterranean coast of Israel are carrying invasive ascidians, presenting a global threat to ecosystems around the world. TAU’s Dr. Noa Shenkar…

The reemergence of organotin in marine hull coatings is of increasing concern, with academics and environmentalists calling on International Maritime Organization (IMO) to investigate the use of tin in silicone-based foul release systems and other ships hull coatings. While use of the organotin tributyltin (TBT) was outlawed as an active biocide almost 10 years ago, the IMO is claimed to “have left the door open” for tin as a catalyst, but according to some academics the amount of organotin used suggests it could be acting as the active agent. Dr.

ZF Marine Krimpen is applying Subsea Industries’ Ecoshield hard coating to the nozzles and underwater components of its azimuth thruster units supplied to vessels operating in inland waterways. The Netherlands-based company, a division of Germany’s ZF Group, is using Ecoshield on thrusters supplied to a number of U.S.-based customers to reduce operational wear and tear in brown waters such as the Mississippi River. The solution was found in Antwerp, in 2015, when ZF approached…

Subsea Industries’ Ecospeed hull protection system has been selected for RRS Sir David Attenborough, the polar research ship under construction at the Cammell Laird shipyard in Birkenhead, Liverpool, U.K. The £150 million contract to build the vessel, which Cammell Laird won in 2015, represents the biggest commercial shipbuilding contract in Britain for 30 years. The ship has been commissioned by the National Environment Research Council (NERC) and will be operated by British Antarctic Survey (BAS).

The entry into force of the Ballast Water Convention this September will not prevent the transfer of invasive aquatic species (IAS) unless there is mandatory legislation in place to prevent biofouling on ships’ hulls. Indeed, while there is ongoing evaluation of the Biofouling Guidelines set out in MEPC.1/Circ.811, there has been little support from IMO Member States for a new mandatory instrument to reduce the impact of bioufouling. Aside from the guidelines, the issue of biofouling is though not to be on the agenda of the MEPC or any other IMO body. There has been a number of studies comparing the transfer of IAS through ballast with that transferred by hull fouling…

The entry into force of the Ballast Water Convention this September will not prevent the transfer of invasive aquatic species (IAS) unless there is mandatory legislation in place to prevent biofouling on ships’ hulls. Indeed, while there is ongoing evaluation of the Biofouling Guidelines set out in MEPC.1/Circ.811, there has been little support from IMO Member States for a new mandatory instrument to reduce the impact of bioufouling. Aside from the guidelines, the issue of biofouling is though not to be on the agenda of the MEPC or any other IMO body.

Subsea Industries has strengthened its presence in the U.K.’s maritime and renewable energy sectors with opening up of a dedicated marine and offshore coatings office in the U.K. and the appointment of coatings specialist Mark Woods as its U.K.-based technical representative. The new office forms part of Subsea Industries’ wider growth strategy to meet increased demand for the company’s award-winning non-toxic hard coatings. As accounting manager, Woods will head up Chelmsford-based Subsea Industries U.K., with responsibility for sales growth across the company’s complete portfolio of marine coatings. However, the company is actively recruiting sales representatives for other locations.

Classification society Lloyd’s Register has renewed its certification of the Ecospeed hard coating as an approved abrasion resistant hull protection system for vessels operating in Polar waters. Upon receiving the new Certificate, Subsea Industries’ CEO Boud Van Rompay said: “Lloyd’s Register’s renewal confirms the lasting durability and strength of Ecospeed and is indicative of the increasing confidence classification societies have in hard-type protective hull coatings. “The…

Subsea Industries has received an order for its specialist hull and rudder coatings for application to a shallow draught anchor handling tug supply (AHTS) vessel under construction at Turkey’s Atlas Shipyard. The hard-type coatings were selected amidst strong competition because of their proven performance in polar waters. The Ice-Class 1A, 65m tug will carry out anchor handling and oil recovery duties in the ecologically sensitive Arctic in compliance with the IMO Polar Code requirements, due to enter into force in January.

Trading in ice is the toughest challenge for a hull coating. Regular anti-fouling paints or simple epoxies are usually scraped off by the constant abrasion of the ice, and extra drydockings are needed to repaint, often after just one season. This was a major issue for Hamburg-based shipowner Interscan Schiffahrt, which controls a fleet of 23 vessels, many of them operating in the Baltic Sea and seas in the far north. However, like other vessels operating in ice conditions, they required frequent repairs to their underwater coating, with time out of service every one or two years costing the owner dearly. The company no longer has this problem.

With an increasing trend for thruster and rudder manufacturers finishing their products with self-cleaning protective hard coatings, Antwerp headquartered Subsea Industries has introduced a filler coating for use with its award-winning Ecoshield hard coat system. Ecofix, specifically formulated to provide shiprepairers and Original Equipment Manufacturers with a cost-effective solution for the repair of corroded or pitted steel surfaces, returns the thruster or rudder to its original state prior to touching up the repaired area with Ecoshield. Boud Van Rompay, Executive Director of Subsea Industries, said: “We are seeing an increasing…

Shipowners, shipbuilders and representatives from the Green Award Foundation  attended the first in a series of planned ‘roadshows’ Subsea Industries has initiated to demonstrate the zero environmental impact and simplicity of cleaning hulls protected with its Ecospeed hard coating. Taking place last week in Maassluis, just outside Rotterdam, guests boarded Subsea Industries’ maintenance and dive support vessel to watch how vessels coated with Ecospeed can be cleaned effortlessly and legally in harbours…

Greg Trauthwein, Editor and Associate Publisher, today celebrates his 50th birthday. Since first manning the editor’s desk at New Wave Media’s flagship publication Maritime Reporter & Engineering News in 1992, Greg has helped grow the publishing house’s offering of world leading b2b publications to four print titles and more than a dozen websites and e-news services collectively serving the commercial maritime, subsea industries and energy industries. From all of us at New Wave Media, here’s to wishing Greg the best on a very happy birthday, and many more to come!

Stretching across oceans and continents, approximately 32,000 km of new pipelines are constructed each year forming an industry worth $28 billion. The installation of pipelines on the seabed require engineers to develop innovative technologies and methods to inspect, repair and maintain pipelines at depths sometimes reaching 1,000m. The Deep Excavation System (DES) is a new, cost-saving technique designed for dredging at great water depths for use in the offshore pipeline industry. For new laid pipelines, large changes in seabed height can create free spans which can lead to stresses in the pipe. For decades, Subsea Rock Installation…

The 2014 Maritime Innovation Award, given jointly by the Royal Institution of Naval Architects and QinetiQ, has been presented to Subsea Industries for the product Ecolock. The Maritime Innovation Award is presented to an individual or organisation in recognition of outstanding scientific or technological research in hydrodynamics, propulsion, structures and material which offers the potential to make significant improvements in the design, construction and operation of marine vessels and structures. Increasingly, offshore vessels such as FPSOs, FSOs, FLRSUs and others used for offshore oil and gas exploration, drilling, storage and transport need to stay out of drydock for 15, 25 even 40 years.

Jastram Technologies Ltd. (JTL) announced it has been appointed agent for Canada for the underwater hull coating Ecospeed and cavitation/corrosion barrier Ecoshield, and for Hydrex underwater repair and maintenance services. JTL will bring wide coverage and a high level of service and support to Hydrex and Ecospeed users and potential users across Canada. JTL is a coast to coast Canadian distributor for marine equipment manufacturers, with offices in British Columbia, Ontario and Nova Scotia. JTL customers range from Shipyards to Fleet Managers to end users.

Subsea Industries, a Hydrex company, announced that its Ecoshield coating system, which offers protection from cavitation and corrosion/erosion damage for ship hulls, rudders and ship underwater running gear, has been recognized with an industry award. The 2014 Innovation in Ship Operations Award was accepted for Subsea Industries by David Phillips, Hydrex Group Communications Executive at an awards dinner in London on April 14, 2014. Boud Van Rompay, Founder of Hydrex and Subsea Industries and the developer of Ecoshield said, “We are delighted to receive this prestigious award.

Karberg & Schmitz GmbH of Hamburg, Germany, have been appointed as Ecospeed agents for the German territory, representing Subsea Industries and Hydrex in the sale and delivery of Ecospeed, Ecoshield and related products including service, maintenance and warranty work. The appointment follows increased interest in Ecospeed on the part of German based owners, operators and shipyards. Owners of many different types of vessels such as cruise ships, harbor tugs, ice-going merchant vessels and others have switched to Ecospeed as a better alternative hull protection and fuel efficiency system. With more than 3,000 ships, Germany is among the top five of the world merchant fleet list by country.

Subsea Industries announced a new product for filling and building up a corroded and pitted steel surface to its original form prior to recoating with Ecoshield. According to the manufacturer, Ecofix is as tough as the steel itself, machinable and can be used to repair most pitting or corrosion damage on rudders, stabilizer fins, thrusters and other underwater gear. Ecofix is used in combination with Ecoshield, the ultimate rudder protection coating. When a rudder or other piece of underwater ship gear has not been properly protected, the surface will become corroded.