Watertaxi Rotterdam finds a workable hull coating in Ecospeed

The city of Rotterdam benefits greatly from a unique, well-organized system of waterborne passenger transport: Watertaxi Rotterdam (WTR). Only recently has WTR found the right fit in terms of hull coating: Ecospeed. Over the years, WTR has tried in vain to find a hull coating that would provide the protection needed, be long-lasting, and not impact the environment adversely. Finally, a year ago, Ecospeed was applied to one of the company’s newbuild electric ferries. The coating, combined with regular cleaning, has proved to be what Watertaxi Rotterdam had been looking for all these years. 

Starting with a single boat

Hans Loos and Daan van der Have, cofounders and directors of WTR, have watched the company they created grow from a single water taxi for transporting guests to and from their Hotel New York in the Kop van Zuid neighborhood of Rotterdam, to its current extensive public transport network of water taxis and ferries serving much of Rotterdam and Schiedam. 

In the early days, the Kop van Zuid looked nothing like it does today. It was an old harbor area with a few buildings, including the New York Hotel and Restaurant. There was no bridge. Hans and Daan had a bright idea. Why not transport guests to and from the hotel and restaurant by boat? Practical and fun.

It was an instant hit. Beginning with a single boat, before long they had a fleet of seven small craft ferrying guests between the hotel and restaurant and the city. It was a very popular service.

“Then in 2000, we thought it would be a good idea to have a real water taxi company in Rotterdam,” recalls Hans. They presented a plan to Rotterdam City Council who immediately saw its merits and decided to participate by providing all the jetties, facilities and infrastructure. Watertaxi Rotterdam contributed the boats and the organization. The water taxi service began in 2001 with five boats. It really was a water taxi company. Passengers, individually or in a group, would rent the boat to take them from one point to another.

“It was rather a nice company,” says Hans. “But in 2013 we thought we should move it to another level, and we started to build boats – aluminum vessels.” In 2015, the first five newbuild boats were added. They also introduced a new service where passengers did not have to rent the whole boat, but could simply pay a fare for their seat and still get to where they wanted to go.

In 2021 WTR won a European bid and 15-year contract for all the passenger transport by water in the Rotterdam area. The contract included the taxi service and also ferries. One of the stipulations of the contract was that the fleet would be zero-emissions by 2030. So, when WTR built their first three ferries, they made them electric.

Fast forward to 2025, and the long-term success is very easy to observe. The company’s fleet has grown considerably. Today they boast fifteen fast water taxis, six electric boats, and one experimental hydrogen-powered vessel. Three ferry crossings. Fifty taxi stops. An app through which you can book and pay. All in all, WTR helps greatly speed up travel around Rotterdam and Schiedam, and makes getting from A to B a lot more efficient and fun.

Hull coatings

Many of the WTR taxis travel at considerable speeds (up to 50 kmh). All the boats tend to receive their fair share of bumps and scrapes as one would expect for vessels that are continually being docked and undocked at jetties as they rapidly drop off and pick up passengers. Their hull coatings have traditionally taken quite a beating. The new hull coating choice had to take this into account along with fuel efficiency. Another important consideration in choice of hull coatings is the environmental effects.

“We have always used traditional antifouling coatings on the hulls,” says Hans. “There are a lot of restrictions on what you are allowed to use. We looked into how to make it as environmentally optimum as possible, but it’s really rather difficult to find the proper system,” he continues. “We tried with some other systems, like a foil, but it really was a disaster. It came off and it didn’t work. With the fast-going vessels we tried just an epoxy coating without the antifouling, because we are able to clean the ships very easily. That was also not really a success. Now we are trying Ecospeed, and it looks like it’s the coating that fits us best,” concludes Hans.

Ecospeed

WTR applied Ecospeed to the aluminum hull of their sixth newbuild electric vessel in November 2023. The hull was conditioned by Hydrex with in-water cleaning in Rotterdam in mid-January of 2024. The in-water cleaning and conditioning helps buff the coating and improves its hydrodynamic properties.

Since then, the hull has been cleaned every month or so to remove the slime and any weed and small barnacles that attach. WTR has a very practical solution to the cleaning. The boat comes into a shed at the WTR head office and is lifted out of the water and pressure washed. It’s as quick and easy as running a car through a car wash. “The coating is very well bonded to the hull and it’s easy to clean. So we are very satisfied with the product,” says Hans.

“The fact that it is non-toxic is very important to us,” adds Hans. “We’re really interested in doing it right.”

WTR are looking at using Ecospeed on the rest of the fleet. The 15 fast vessels will need to be phased out by 2030 as part of the drive to achieve zero emissions for the fleet. They will be replaced by newbuild electric boats. This will provide an opportunity to convert the fleet to Ecospeed which will mean zero emissions into the water, as well as zero emissions into the atmosphere.

Watertaxi Rotterdam are setting an excellent example for the Port of Rotterdam in terms of care and responsibility for the environment.