Biofouling – the accumulation of unwanted marine growth on the
hulls of ships – is a problem for all vessels. The increased hull
friction it causes requires ship engines to work harder,
resulting in increased fuel consumption and increased greenhouse
gas emissions.
Heavily-fouled hulls also spread marine organisms beyond their
natural ranges, with the potential for negative environmental
impacts.
Defence Equipment and Support (DE&S), the procurement arm for
the UK Armed Forces, has been working with QinetiQ and PML
Applications to design and manufacture a specialist raft which
can test anti-fouling coatings on five different classes of Royal
Navy ships at the same time – the RFA Tide Class, Type 23
Frigate, Type 45 Destroyer, Landing Platform Dock (LPD) and
Sandown Mine Sweeper.
In the past, patch tests were applied to one ship which sailed
for around one or two years, and the paint that performed the
best would be used across the whole fleet, which didn’t always
result in the best protection for the ship.
Jason Jones, from DE&S’s Ships Husbandry Team, said:
Biofouling Management Regulations around the world require ships
to demonstrate effective biofouling management, is now an entry
requirement for many global ports and harbours. If a ship is
unable to do this, it may be prevented from continuing its
deployment and this would impact on its operational capability.
As well as developing the testing systems, our teams have been
improving documentation for ships to be able to demonstrate that
they are complying with the regulations.
DE&S has invested £350,000 in the work, which includes the
cost of the raft, equipment, laboratory costs and the scientists
working on the project. By looking at where the ship is sailing,
how fast it will be travelling and how many days it will be
docked for, scientists can determine the most efficient
anti-fouling paint for that ship to prevent the build-up of
biofouling.
Dr Tom Vance, PML Applications’ Chief Operating Officer said:
We’re very proud to be supporting the Navy, through DE&S, by
generating independent data to show how different biofouling
management technologies including coatings actually perform. Our
unique field-based testing infrastructure simulates the speed and
activity profiles of different classes of ships, allowing us to
match the best antifouling coatings and tailored protection
measures to individual vessels. This will enable the Navy to
select the optimum antifouling coating technology and biofouling
management approach for use.
With fuel typically accounting for a significant percentage of
marine transport costs, this work, while is still in the early
stages, has the potential delivery efficiencies for the Royal
Navy, as well as reducing adverse environmental effects such as
carbon emissions and biodiversity imbalances.
