Stena has signed a contract with I-Tech to coat the hulls of four newbuild RoPax ferries with paint that incorporates the bio-repellent antifouling ingredient Selektope.
The agreement confirms yet more full vessel applications for Selektope whose pharmacological mode of action co[ds_preview]mbats barnacle settlement on ships’ hulls by temporarily stimulating the barnacle larvae’s swimming behavior. To date, marine coating products containing Selektope have been applied to over 150 vessels including; tankers, containerships and LNG carriers, in a series of newbuilding and over-coating projects the company stated.
According to I-Tech the organic, non-metal compound is the only one of its kind in marine antifouling application. It is characterized by high efficacy at low concentrations (0.1 % w/w), ultra-low leaching and flexibility to boost copper-based paint formulations or to replace copper completely.
Tests have shown that anti-fouling paints containing Selektope offer superior hard fouling protection, resulting in lower water resistance and decreased fuel consumption, in addition to lower maintenance costs the company said. Selektope repels barnacles even when ships are idle, allowing fuel saving claims made by coatings suppliers to cover the ship’s entire operational cycle.
The delivery of the newbuild Stena RoPax ferries is scheduled for 2019/2020. They will be built at the Avic yard in Weihai, China.
