Swedish ferry company Stena RoRo has signed a contract to coat the hulls of four new build RoPax ferries with paint containing a bio-repellent antifouling ingredient, Selektope, developed by I-Tech.
Selektope’s pharmacological mode of action combats barnacle settlement on ships’ hulls by temporarily stimulating the barnacle larvae’s swimming behaviour.
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The organic, non-metal compound has been characterised by its high efficacy at extremely low concentrations, ultra-low leaching and flexibility to boost copper-based paint formulations or replace copper completely.
The new Stena RoPax ferries, to be coated with Selektope-based paint, are expected to be delivered by 2019 / 2020.
The ferries will be built at AVIC yard in Weihai, China.
I-Tech CEO Philip Chaabane said: “We are honoured that a pioneer of sustainability in commercial shipping such as Stena RoRo has chosen a Selektope-containing hull coating product for its newbuild programme.
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By GlobalData“Their investment in a premium antifouling product that contains Selektope will deliver strong antifouling performance with the additional benefit that their high-activity vessels will have the best protection from barnacle invasion.”
Various tests have revealed that anti-fouling paints containing Selektope provide better hard fouling protection, reducing water resistance, fuel consumption, and maintenance costs.
In addition, Selektope repels barnacles even when ships are idle, enabling coatings suppliers to offer fuel savings to the vessel operators.
So far, more than 150 vessels including tankers, containerships and liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers have applied Selektope-based coating product.
