Tag Archives: biofouling

Nippon Paint Marine Showcases Coating Solutions Results Aboard AIDAdiva

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Nippon Paint Marine Showcases Coating Solutions Results Aboard AIDAdiva

Nippon Paint Marine announced that its application of AQUATERRAS, an advanced polymer technology, on the AIDAdiva has resulted in lower costs and downtime, as the need for planned in-water hull cleaning was removed for over three years.

John Drew, director at Nippon Paint Marine, Europe, told Cruise Industry News the patented structure, paired with a hydrolysis-driven self-polishing mechanism, optimises hull smoothness over time and delivers a reduction in fuel consumption and greenhouse gas emissions.

“Our team of experts has a detailed understanding of the challenging itineraries that cruise vessels must operate under, often spending extended periods within regions in which the impact of biofouling is keenly felt, as well as managing stakeholder pressure from consumers where sustainability is a priority,” Drew explained.

Meeting the Industry Where It Is

According to Drew, the industry is adapting to an increasingly complex regulatory environment designed to support the reduction of carbon emissions and increase sustainability.

“Our clients are focused on balancing the need to mitigate emissions from their fleets through enhanced operational efficiencies and the integration of clean technologies while remaining commercially competitive,” he added.

To meet these requirements, the company launched AQUATERRAS, which combines hydrophilic and hydrophobic micro-domains to resist biological adhesion.

Drew added that, while delivering a speed loss of 1 per cent over 60 months, compared to the 5.9 per cent industry average, the attributes enable vessels to generate up to 14.7 per cent in fuel savings and associated emissions reduction.

“Hull performance directly affects both operating costs and environmental impact, so maintaining a clean hull across such varied conditions is critical,” he said. “AQUATERRAS has demonstrated its ability to meet these challenges.”

“For example, following its application to the AIDAdiva in 2022, the vessel operated for three years without the need for any in-water hull cleaning, maintaining a fouling-free vertical bottom despite extensive service in high-biofouling regions such as the Caribbean and Mediterranean,” he explained.

The performance supported sustained fuel efficiency gains and eliminated the environmental risks associated with traditional coatings due to its biocide-free characteristics.

Drew added that the solution, for both drydock and newbuild projects, does not require specialist application equipment and can be applied at any yard.

The Focus for the Future

“Looking ahead, innovation in marine coatings will be shaped by three priorities: advancing sustainability, maximising operational efficiency and ensuring compliance with increasingly stringent and fragmented environmental regulations,” said Drew.

“We expect to see a continued shift away from biocidal systems toward alternative technologies that deliver long-term fouling prevention without environmental trade-offs, as well as a focus on developing low-volatile organic compounds solutions that are designed to minimise the release of harmful organic chemicals into the surrounding environment during application and drying,” he added.

Nippon Paint Marine will invest heavily into research and development leading into 2026, as innovation means looking well beyond the next 12 months, Drew said. Innovations and materials need to be tested over a number of years in varied operating conditions before being launched to market.

Collaboration is the Way Forward

“Working closely with shipowners, operators, shipyards, and research partners is imperative for us, as it ensures our innovations align with the operational challenges our customers face,” Drew said.

“Through working together, we can help our partners meet their various commercial and environmental targets, today and in the long term. This means continuing to innovate while ensuring our products support the highest levels of performance, are cost-effective and support ongoing regulatory compliance.”

Your Ship’s Not Clean Unless It Is EverClean

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Managing biofouling on ship hulls has been a topic of interest for thousands of years. Like many things in the marine industry, progress in this field has been the result of a slow, steady churn of technological improvements, punctuated by periodic significant advancements (e.g. copper sheathing, anti-fouling & fouling release paints). We are now in the midst of another advancement: hull cleaning. Hull cleaning refers to the gentle, habitual and frequent mechanical maintenance of submerged ships’ hulls in order that they remain free from extraneous matter such as fouling organisms and particulate debris, with minimal impact on the coating. In hindsight, it seems remarkably simple – clean it regularly in a way that doesn’t damage the paint. As it turns out, some of those adjectives (gentle, frequent, habitual) are not easy to achieve.

EverClean™ is an autonomous robotic hull cleaning service that delivers always clean hulls made possible by combining a Robot-as-a-Service (RaaS) business model with the next generation of hull cleaning robotics. The Armach vehicle has some distinct advantages – a small platform to get into tighter spaces on the hull, and caterpillar tracks which are kinder to hull coatings.

Because the Armach vehicle is scalable and efficient, cleanings can be performed more regularly using a thoroughly tested brush system that is non-destructive to the hull coating with built-in system intelligence which means it won’t overwork the coatings – adding yet another cost benefit. The system also saves costs by reporting valuable information back to the shipowner, effectively creating a hull condition survey every time it cleans a hull. If any damage or corrosion is picked up early by the robot’s cameras and sensors, decisions can be made on whether rectification is necessary or whether ongoing monitoring will suffice.

EverClean, makes operating with always clean hulls finally possible in an industry that has been doing things the same way for centuries and stands ready to provide a service solution to always clean hulls and hull intelligence for the marine industry today.

Don’t let biofouling drag you down. Schedule an EverClean consultation today and see how to save fuel, reduce carbon emissions, and mitigate invasive species transfer.