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Clean Hull Initiative moves forward; new coatings launched
From the Clean Hull Initiative to the rise of graphene and the launch of a new coating solution, there is much going on in this sector for container ship owners
The Clean Hull Initiative has taken an important step forward – taking the initiative to progress an ISO standard for proactive vessel biofouling cleaning, aiming for publication early 2026.
The Clean Hull Initiative was launched at Nor-Shipping in 2021 to address the increasing focus on biosecurity and ship efficiency. The environmental non-governmental organisation Bellona Foundation is behind the initiative, in partnership with Jotun, and is working with stakeholders spanning regulators, operators, ports, coatings manufacturers, technology and service providers, academic and research institutions to develop an ISO standard for proactive cleaning.
Jotun Performance Coatings regulatory affairs manager Petter Korslund says, “The Clean Hull Initiative (CHI) aims to create an internationally recognised standard for the cleaning of the biofouling of vessels. The initiative at first focused on proactive cleaning but later the scope included reactive cleaning, with the title ’In-water cleaning of ship’s biofouling’. The importance of creating a standard is important for the whole industry and the environment, as we know combating biofouling on hulls can save 9% of global fuel consumption, according to the Third IMO Greenhouse Gas Study.”
In 2023, MEPC 80 adopted the new updated IMO Biofouling Management Guidelines, which were adopted in September that year. CHI has been careful to align as much as possible with these, enabling the standard and the guidelines to be complementary to each other.
There are various benefits of having a standard. Mr Korslund explains, “Shipowners are encouraged to have a biofouling management plan for each vessel. The standard can help an owner produce its biofouling plans; it can follow the standard closely when it comes to initiating biofouling cleaning on ships. The standard will have certain criteria on how to select a service provider, when it should do it and what documents it needs.”
He adds that on the port side, there are few international standards they can use as guidance. This can make it complicated for a container ship owner, if their ship is calling at six or seven ports in different countries on a route, and all have different rules on how to treat biofouling on a vessel.
Having an ISO Standard would provide common ground rules to create more alignment among ports and make it easier for shipowners to have a clear biofouling strategy.
There is a further biofouling initiative Jotun is part of; the GloFouling Partnerships (GIA) alliance supports two key IMO environmental objectives via improved biofouling management: to protect marine biodiversity and decarbonise shipping.
The GIA explains how its members collectively identify and develop innovative solutions to address common barriers and promote the development and uptake of new technologies and operational measures.
Mr Korslund sums up, “Co-operation is an important work for these three biofouling initiatives. It is where we are working the most with competitors as we are all trying to take part in how the regulations will be developed in five or six years. We have a common interest; if we can co-operate, we can set the stage and compete within it.”
Graphene gains momentum
There have been recent developments within biofouling products. Canada-based GIT Coatings produces graphene hull coatings. GIT Coatings head of market strategy & vessel performance Philippos Sfiris, vessel performance manager Ryan Ingham and marketing and communications manager Patrick Wadden tell CS&PT about the product, “Graphene as a nanomaterial is very interesting because it is 200 times stronger than steel; and we are using this material because it is enhancing the performance of the coating. High-performance marine coatings are one of best energy-saving technologies for vessel owners and operators and unlike other similar coatings, graphene-based coatings do not release any biocides and silicone oils in the marine environment. They also have lower VOC for applicators.”
GIT Coating’s hull coating XGIT-FUEL offers a hard amphiphilic finish which is a result of self-assembly of a patented blend of nano-additives, which confuses the marine species from robust settlement on the paint’s finish and retains a low-fouled and easy-to-clean surface.
The coating surface provides ultra-low friction and roughness out of dock, foul-release property – self-cleaning at > 10 knots; excellent mechanical properties – superior grooming resistance; and is biocide-free.
XGIT-FUEL is a hard foul release coating. The company spokespeople explain, “Hard foul release is a hybrid patented technology that combines the best of both worlds: the smoothness and self-cleaning property of soft foul release coatings such as silicone and the mechanical durability of hard epoxy-based coatings. This makes it an ideal solution for significant fuel savings immediately after the coating application with a proven impact on EEXI, CII and EU ETS compared with traditional antifouling paints, as well as a proactive hull cleaning (grooming) with no paint damage and no risk for water pollution after repeated cleanings over the docking cycle.”
GIT Coatings says the hull coating XGIT-Fuel is well suited for the container ship market since they operate at high transit speeds, travel long voyages and burn lots of fuel, which bodes well for utilising a hard foul release coating.
“Our propeller coating XGIT-Prop is also well suited for this type of operation for the same reasons.”
Several of the largest container fleets have GIT’s technologies.
They sum up, “Container shipping customers are placing demands on shipping providers to reduce the indirect emissions from their value chain. In addition, fuel costs for container operators are among concerns within this market segment. As a result, container shipping is adapting to energy-saving technologies such as graphene-based hard foul release coatings at an increasing rate.”
GIT Coatings has recently developed a bundle solution for the shipping industry.
Mr Wadham, Mr Ingham and Mr Sfiris say, “By combining a hard foul release coating, together with robotic grooming technologies, this solution offers a low-friction surface resulting in power savings out of dock; an always clean hull with minimum degradation over the docking cycle (close to zero speed loss); no biocides; and no disruption in vessel operations.”
The company also offers predocking, post-application and inservice advisory services.
New hull coating launched
Hempel has launched new hull coating system Hempaguard Ultima, which the company says delivers optimised performance and increased fuel savings.
The new two-layer coating system Hempaguard Ultima builds on the success of Hempaguard X7, which has been applied to more than 4,000 vessels and is third-party verified and validated for its performance and decarbonisation efforts by DNV.
“Hempaguard Ultima is our most significant innovation in a decade and an important step forward in our ability to protect and improve our customers’ most important assets,” says Hempel executive vice president and head of marine Alexander Enström.
Hempaguard Ultima combines the performance of Hempaguard X7 with Hempel’s new biocide-free silicone topcoat, Hempaguard XL. With Hempaguard Ultima, customers can expect up to 21% fuel savings, 160 fouling-free idle days, only 0.9% speed loss on average and a 6% immediate out-of-dock performance increase.
Hempel R&D director marine Diego Meseguer Yebra comments, “With Hempaguard Ultima, a vessel’s hull can achieve a more stable surface smoothness, even into the fourth or fifth year of the docking cycle. This reduces the risk of fouling after long service periods, even when the coating’s hydrogel and biocide can start losing some effectiveness. At the same time, the Hempaguard XL topcoat acts as a modulator for the release of biocide from Hempaguard X7, allowing a lower biocide amount per square metre to last longer.”
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