RRS Ernest Shackleton, now the RV Laura Bassi – a breakthrough in icebreaker hull protection
When British Antarctic Survey’s RRS (Royal Research Ship) Ernest Shackleton was drydocked in 2011 in Denmark, the superintendent, engineers and paint specialists there to check the condition of the hull paint were amazed. 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, the hull coating was virtually intact and undamaged. This was in strong contrast to the Shackleton’s previous drydockings, when almost the entire hull, bearing a conventional ice-going underwater hull coating, was practically stripped to bare, unprotected steel.
The difference lay in the fact that when the Shackleton left drydock in 2009, the hull was newly coated with Ecospeed Ice, a glassflake vinyl ester resin underwater hull coating proven to have extraordinary anti-corrosion protective strength and flexibility. Ecospeed Ice consistently outperforms the other specialized ice-going ship bottom paints.
The success of the new underwater hull coating on the Shackleton, whose hull can genuinely be said to undergo the harshest of conditions of just about any vessel afloat, is a story well worth telling in detail. As in many cases, a picture is worth the proverbial thousand words. In this case, two sets of pictures tell the story more dramatically than any description. Shackleton was initially coated with a conventional ice class paint in 1995, from build. BAS took over the operation of the Shackleton in 1999 and since then only ever repaired the hull coating using the recommended repair product.
“Ecospeed…consistently outperforms the specialized ice-going ship bottom paints.”
The first set of three pictures above show the condition of Shackleton’s hull after 13 years using a traditional ice class paint system with repair or repainting during every drydock. The second set of photos show similar portions of the hull coated with Ecospeed after two hard years working in ice. The hull has just been pressure washed in drydock. Note that neither the rudder nor the hull above the water line were coated with Ecospeed in 2009. This was rectified in the 2011 drydocking so that the rudder and the hull above the water line then had the same protection as the rest of the ship bottom.
The first set of three pictures above show the condition of Shackleton’s hull after 13 years using a traditional ice class paint system with repair or repainting during every drydock. The second set of photos show similar portions of the hull coated with Ecospeed after two hard years working in ice. The hull has just been pressure washed in drydock. Note that neither the rudder nor the hull above the water line were coated with Ecospeed in 2009. This was rectified in the 2011 drydocking so that the rudder and the hull above the water line then had the same protection as the rest of the ship bottom.
Some background on the Royal Research Ship Ernest Shackleton
Based in Cambridge, England, British Antarctic Survey (BAS) is one of the world’s leading environmental research centers, responsible for the UK’s national scientific activities in Antarctica.
The RRS (Royal Research Ship) Ernest Shackleton was built by Kverner Klevin Leirvik A/S, Norway and launched originally as the MV Polar Queen by Rieber Shipping of Bergen in 1995. She was deployed in the Antarctic by various national programs before being acquired by British Antarctic Survey in August 1999. The vessel was then renamed RRS Ernest Shackleton after Sir Ernest Shackleton, perhaps the most famous Polar explorer of all time.
RRS Ernest Shackleton, ice strengthened and capable of a wide range of logistic tasks as well as having a scientific capability, was primarily a logistics ship, used for the resupply of the BAS’s stations, with occasional scientific and specialist tasking.
In September/October of each year the Shackleton sailed from the UK to the Antarctic, returning the following May/June. After annual refit/drydock, RRS Ernest Shackleton was chartered into commercial survey work. At the end of this northern summer work she loaded cargo and scientific equipment in the Humber for return to the Antarctic. The trade pattern of the Ernest Shackleton included breaking ice from 1- 2.5m thick. According to the crew, she has “really been bashing heavy ice” during her recent voyages.
The ship was acquired by OGS (Instituto Nazionale di Oceanografia e di Geofisica Sperimentale) in 2019 and was renamed the RV Laura Bassi. But more of that later.
Ecospeed protecting RRS Ernest Shackleton since 2009
Stephen Lee was the Senior Marine Engineer for British Antarctic Survey, the BAS’s equivalent of a Technical Superintendent. Stephen and the Antarctic Marine Engineering (AME) department were instrumental in the initial research which led to replacing the underwater hull coating in 2009. He recalls the reaction of those present when the Ernest Shackleton was first pulled out of the water at Frederikshaven drydock in early 2011.
“The biggest thing was the surprise at seeing the areas where you’d expect it to have taken a lot of damage… when she first came out of the water and onto the blocks it was a complete shock to all those present. All of us there commented on the condition of the hull and in particular that there was negligible damage at the bows, merely some scratch marks. None of us there would have predicted this. I then jokingly asked the question, ‘Are you sure you’ve taken this ship to the ice?’”
Complete difference with Ecospeed
According to Stephen Lee, the crew of the Shackleton reported that they had been pushing into 2 – 2.5 meter thick ice, “…and it’s just not touched it – not touched it at all.”
“We were really impressed with the performance of Ecospeed,” says Stephen, who was the person mainly responsible for switching to Ecospeed in 2009. It was seeing the results after two seasons in the ice that led him to go up another level and have Ecospeed applied above the waterline so that it covers all the ice belt where mechanical damage normally occurs. The rudder was also coated with Ecospeed during the 2011 drydocking so that it too could benefit from the same impenetrable protection as the hull.
Naturally the condition of the paint was carefully inspected. “The paint inspector, Howard Jess, took dry film thickness measurements around the hull and found it was basically something around 970-1000 microns on average so it’s hardly lost any thickness,” Stephen explains. The original application of Ecospeed was 1000 microns DFT on the entire underwater hull.
Some minor mechanical damage had occurred to the coating but this amounted to some chips and scrapes totaling less than 0.1% of the total surface area. Compared to the virtual total removal of all the paint which the crew of the Shackleton had become used to before the application of Ecospeed, the damage was negligible and easily repaired. Only very minor touch-ups were required in drydock.
Maintenance on the Ecospeed has been remarkably low. “The only maintenance undertaken has been one whole underwater scrub in August 2010 in Frederikshaven during our last maintenance period, and then she went down south,” says BAS’s Senior Marine Engineer.
“…when she first came out of the water and onto the blocks it was a complete shock to all those present. All of us there commented on the condition of the hull and in particular that there was negligible damage at the bows, merely some scratch marks. None of us there would have predicted this.”
Before leaving drydock in 2011 the rudder and the boot top area above the water line were coated with Ecospeed Ice.
Before leaving drydock in 2011 the rudder and the boot top area above the water line were coated with Ecospeed Ice.
The search for the right hull coating
“There’s a huge amount of preparation and logistics that have to go into getting the initial coat of traditional ice-going paint onto the hull, whereas with Ecospeed it’s minimal as long as you have a good paint inspector, and only minimum environmentals are needed.”
Paint inspector’s perspective
“I was very impressed with the condition of the coating on the Shackleton after two seasons in the ice. Apparently she had been trapped in the ice on several occasions and the procedure is to reverse and then crash forward at full speed. Yet the coating remained intact.”
“I’m not aware of any other company that gives a 10 year warranty on their hull coating.”
Drydock in 2017
Ecospeed is guaranteed for 10 years and has a life expectancy of 25 years. The RRS Ernest Shackleton has borne this out.
The Shackleton was in drydock again in 2017. After 8 years of sailing in heavy ice with no repaint, the hull coating was still in remarkably good condition and only needed minor touch-ups to repair mechanical damage.
See photos below.
RRS Ernest Shackleton becomes Laura Bassi – the hull coating holds firm
OGS (Instituto Nazionale di Oceanografia e di Geofisica Sperimentale) acquired Ernest Shackleton in 2019. They renamed her Laura Bassi in honor of the first woman to earn a professorship in physics at a university and the first woman in the world do be appointed to a university chair in a scientific field of studies.
After her first Antarctic mission for OGS, the ship was still protected by the Ecospeed coating as she had been for 12 years. Mr. Rosario Martino, Naval Architect and Marine Engineer for the vessel’s ship managers, ARGO s.r.l. said, “It was impressive to see the Ecospeed paint in an excellent condition even after so many years of service. We have performed only touch-ups in the bow area affected by the impacts with the ice layer.”
He added, “When Laura Bassi returned from her first Arctic campaign, during which she encountered quite a few icy areas, it was clear that the Ecospeed paint did its job impeccably.”
The photos below show the condition of the coating after the ship was drydocked and pressure washed in 2021.
“When Laura Bassi returned from her first Arctic campaign, during which she encountered quite a few icy areas, it was clear that the Ecospeed paint did its job impeccably.”
Conclusion
RRS Ernest Shackleton, now RV Laura Bassi, is living evidence that when it comes to protecting the underwater hull in the very harshest of conditions including 2.5 m ice mixed with gravel such as only the Antarctic can provide, Ecospeed offers easy-to-apply, long lasting, complete protection, and does so in a highly economical way.
The number one consideration in a hull coating for ice-going vessels and icebreakers is the ability of the coating to protect the hull in the harshest marine environment there is.
Ecospeed Ice will hold up and will not be damaged in the ice and so will remain smooth for the life of the vessel. Even if minor repairs are needed in drydock, the original quality of the coating remains intact. RV Laura Bassi is a great example of this. We are proud to have protected the vessel for the last 12 years and will continue to do so for many years to come.
