Problemet med marin påväxt och dess lösningar

Sammanfattning: With a fuel consumption of up to 150 tons a day for a containership, fuel cost is the main expense for shippers. To decrease expenses, drag reduction is the most important topic to address. The biggest factor that influence the hydrodynamics of a vessel is marine fouling. A heavily fouled ship can consume an additional 40 % of fuel or more. The process of marine fouling is an extremely diverse and complex issue, involving more than 4000 marine fouling species that interact with the vessel surface. On top of that, the microbiological environment is dramatically different between different regions of the world and the oceans. Marine antifouling suppliers push development in order to meet the demands from shippers all around the world requiring constantly higher and higher performance. The development is directed towards achieving better performance but it is also controlled by regulations. To be able to meet future demands, new laws and regulations has to be monitored, understood and considered. Biological systems are being studied for inspiration and more novel and complex solutions are constantly emerging. The solutions have shifted from only tackling hard macrofouling to also focus on preventing the biofilm from forming. Stricter regulations mean that the environmental considerations become more and more important for the shipping industry. The positive effects of antifouling solutions on lowered exhaust gas emission have to be balanced in relation to its environmental load arising from biocidal release. Especially since the shipping fleet is behind some of the worst exhaust emissions in the world. In this work, today’s antifouling solutions have been researched, compared and stripped, to more easily see the lowest common denominators in order to predict a future solution. A future solution must have higher performance, tackle the biofilm from forming, be easy to apply, free from biocides and lasts the entire life-time of the vessel.