Subsea Industries:Looking back at 2021

Subsea Industries:Looking back at 2021

The past year has been a very successful one for Subsea Industries. Several ships came into drydock after sailing with Ecospeed for many years, some well over 10 years. The result was always the same: The coating was still in excellent condition and did not need to be replaced. A large number of new applications of the company’s different coating systems this year have also been completed.
New applications

Icebreaking bulk carrier Umiak I
In April 2021 the icebreaking bulk carrier Umiak I was coated with Ecospeed. The application was carried out at the leading European ship repair and conversion yard Remontowa Shiprepair Yard in Gdansk, Poland. The ship is owned by Fednav and managed by Canship Ugland Ltd.

Umiak I was built in 2006 and is one of the most powerful of its kind. The hull is reinforced to navigate unassisted through ice that is 1.5 meters thick. On its regular run down the Labrador coast, Umiak I contends with some of the world’s most rugged ice conditions, including icebergs, from November to July each year.

During the 2016 dry docking, it was decided to apply two test patches of Ecospeed coating to areas most prone to damage. Over the next five winter seasons the condition of the Ecospeed test patches was examined and found to hold up to the very difficult conditions despite the continuous impact with ice. The decision was made to replace the entire underwater hull coating with Ecospeed at the next docking.

TundRA 3200 icebreaking tugboats Selene and Helios

Two Robert Allan Ltd. designed icebreaking tugs constructed at Turkey’s Sanmar Shipyards have been protected with Ecospeed. The pair of 67 tonne bollard pull ice class ASD tugs include a number of special features to cater for Arctic conditions. They are specifically designed for year-round service in the Baltic Sea.

Because the topside of these tugs also needed extra protection against ice, Ecolast was applied to this area of the vessels. This coating is ultraviolet (UV) light resistant and preserves its color while at the same time offering the corrosion and abrasion protection all our coatings are known for.

Prior to delivery, the OEM applied our Ecoshield coating to the azimuth thrusters of both vessels to give them lasting protection. Ecoshield offers permanent protection against cavitation damage for rudders, bulbous bow, stabilizer fins, thruster nozzles and other underwater ship gear which needs special protection from corrosion.

Largest US-built aluminum pilot boat: Spindletop

When pilot boat Spindletop was delivered in 2021 its underwater deep V-bottom hull was coated with Ecospeed to protect the vessel against corrosion. The 27.4-meter boat was built by Louisiana boat builder Breaux’s Bay Craft.

The pilot boat can reach speeds of up to 30.6 knots and will sail at an estimated running speed of 27 knots during daily operations. For a fast-going vessel like this it is important to have a coating that will last and will help the boat maintain design speed. Ecospeed gives an underwater hull the best possible hydrodynamic characteristics. What is more, the performance of the ship does not degrade. Large fuel savings are the result.

Ecospeed can be applied to steel, aluminum and polyester surfaces. In all cases the same lasting protection is offered. For aluminum vessels corrosion can become a big problem if the hull is not protected properly. Applying our coating will remove this issue completely: No corrosion will appear on Ecospeed hulls.

Shallow draught AHTS vessels Polar and Polus

In 2017 Ecospeed was applied to Antarctic, a shallow draught anchor handling tug supply (AHTS) vessel owned by Ark Shipping Company. The success of this application led the owner of the boat to order the same protection for his next two shallow draught AHTS vessels: Polar and Polus. Coating of these vessels took place at the Atlas Shipyard in Kocaeli, Turkey where they were built.

As part of their unique design, Polar and Polus have six rudders each. These were all coated with our Ecoshield coating, as were the propeller nozzles and thruster tunnels.

Ark Shipping Company originally selected the Subsea Industries coatings amidst strong competition because of their proven performance in polar waters. The Ice-Class 1A, 65m tug Antarctic carries out anchor handling and oil recovery duties in the ecologically sensitive Arctic in compliance with the IMO Polar Code requirements.

Excellent results

When Navy vessel Godetia was withdrawn from service in June 2021 after 55 years afloat, the  command and logistical support ship of the Belgian Navy had been sailing with Ecospeed on its hull for the last 16 years without needing to replace it.

A cruise ship that was coated 13 years ago is still going strong and needed only touch-ups during its most recent docking. The ship often remains stationary in the Caribbean for several months. After this period, Ecospeed’s qualities always permit a complete removal of all fouling from the underwater hull of the vessel. This is done during an underwater cleaning without causing any damage to the hull coating.

Icebreaking research vessel Laura Bassi after 12 years

When icebreaking research vessel Laura Bassi docked in Italy earlier this year, only touch-ups were applied to the underwater hull coating. Even though the hull was originally coated with Ecospeed twelve years ago, there has been no need for a full repaint since then

Back in 2009 when the coating was first applied, the ship was still called Ernest Shackleton. Istituto Nazionale di Oceanografia e di Geofisica Sperimentale (OGS) acquired Ernest Shackleton in 2019. They renamed her Laura Bassi in honor of the first woman to earn a professorship in physics at a university and the first woman in the world to be appointed to a university chair in a scientific field of studies.

After its first Antarctic mission for OGS the ship is still protected by the Ecospeed coating as it has been for the last 12 years. Mr. Rosario Martino, Naval Architect & Marine Engineer for the vessel’s ship managers, ARGO s.r.l. said: “It was impressive to see the Ecospeed paint in an excellent condition even after so many years of service. We have performed only touch-ups in the bow area affected by the impacts with the ice layer.”

Energy efficient dry cargo carrier Eeva VG after 5 years

When the 4700dwt Eeva VG docked in Naantali, Finland in June 2021, the Ecospeed coating on its hull was still in excellent condition. The ship was coated at the start of 2016. During the most recent docking only very minor touch-ups were needed, despite the severe ice conditions the ship has encountered.

Eeva VG is one of two energy efficient dry cargo carriers built in 2016 and managed by VG-Shipping. Both ships operate in the Baltic region and are designed to cause considerably less environmental impact than conventional dry cargo vessels.

With these vessels operating in arctic waters, the owner requires a coating capable of withstanding ice impact. Polar trading is one of the biggest challenges for coatings manufacturers, since abrasive waters scratch and scrape conventional anti-fouling paints resulting in hull recoats after just one season. Subsea Industries’ hard coatings are developed to survive even in the harshest of environments.

Hydrex workboat after 11 years

Eleven years after Ecospeed was applied on two of the Hydrex workboats, one of them docked in Antwerp. Just as on its sister ship that docked a year earlier, the coating was still in near-perfect condition and no repaint or touch-ups were required.

For the Hydrex divers that regularly clean the workboats this came as no surprise. “When we clean the hulls, the surrounding water remains clean. Only fouling is washed off the vessel,” said one of them. “Inspecting the hull of the vessel underwater always shows the pristine condition of Ecospeed. This is in sharp contrast with the regular anti-fouling coatings on other underwater hulls we see.”

Subsea Industries’ Executive Director Boud Van Rompay explained: “With Ecospeed there is no need to reblast and recoat the hull; no chance of corrosion, no impact on the environment and, if regular hull cleaning is carried out, large fuel savings can be achieved. The simplicity of cleaning hulls protected with our Ecospeed hard coating system allow Hydrex divers to clean our workboats in just two hours. They use our specially-designed tools and equipment,” said Van Rompay