Norwegian Shipping Company Hires Ecospeed for Protection of Its Cargo Vessels

A Norwegian based shipping company chose Ecospeed to give lasting protection to their two newbuild general cargo vessels. The first vessel, m/v Golfstraum, was delivered in November. Her sister vessel m/v Rystraum is planned for a 2012 delivery. Both vessels are of the highest ice class and will be trading in North Europe and the Baltic Sea.

Because the most northern parts of the Baltic Sea are almost completely frozen during the winter season the owner wanted an underwater hull coating that would protect his vessels against the frequent impact of large pieces of floating dry ice. Ecospeed was therefore the ideal coating, requiring no more than a few touch-ups during future drydock visits and no full repaint.

Ecospeed has also received the Lloyd’s Register certificate that recognizes the coating as an abrasion resistant ice coating for vessels intending to navigate in ice conditions. For this reason the ice belts of both vessels, the area on the bow just above the waterline that is most prone to mechanical damage from sailing through ice, were also coated with Ecospeed.

For over five years several vessels coated with Ecospeed have been sailing through the most severe Baltic Winters. None of these vessels have required more than just a few touch-ups during their drydock visits. Further evidence of Ecospeed’s resistance is the excellent condition of the coating on the underwater hull of the icebreaker Oden that has been sailing to both the North and the South Pole since it was coated 4 1/2 years ago and the virtually intact and undamaged condition of Ecospeed on RRS (Royal Research Ship) Ernest Shackleton after two seasons of battering its way through ice up to 2.5 meters thick with a high content of gravel and volcanic lava adding to its abrasiveness.

Besides its durable resistance to mechanical damage, Ecospeed is also a non-toxic coating and offers a TBT-free, copper-free, biocide-free and silicone oil-free solution for the protection of the underwater hull. In 2008 stringent tests were carried out within the framework of an EU-LIFE demonstration project to provide scientific data and to authenticate the non-toxicity of the Ecospeed hull performance technology. This research proved that the coating is 100% toxicant free and that it produces no negative effect on the water quality or the marine environment at any point.

[mappress]

Offshore Nieuws Staff , December 5, 2011; Image: hydrex