Corrosion Protection and Ship Hull Performance – The key to ending corrosion and improving performance in ships

by Boud Van Rompay

A Google search for “corrosion in ships” returned 18,300,000 (eighteen million three hundred thousand!) results in 0. 0.28 seconds. A search for “books on corrosion of ships” returned 69,600,000 results in the same amount of time. Then there are volumes and volumes of scientific papers, journals, white papers, brochures and advertisements, not to mention podcasts, videos, courses and so on, all on the same subject. One would think, with all that vast body of information, that the subject of corrosion at sea would long since have been solved.

And yet, the problem continues to come up and loom heavily in the lives of ship superintendents, fleet managers, ship builders, ship repair yards, chief engineers, vessel captains and many others who are in charge of protecting ships’ hulls and running gear. They are responsible for safety at sea, the continued proper functioning of the ship and the vessel’s maintained value over time. Corrosion is their main enemy.

The other part of the puzzle with ships is fuel efficiency. Not only must the hull be protected from corrosion, it must also be kept smooth in order to achieve minimum drag, minimum fuel consumption, minimum GHG emissions and the avoidance of transfer of hull-borne invasive aquatic species.

Subsea Industries successful solutions

At Subsea Industries we manufacture and supply a range of marine coatings, all formulated with the same basic principle: insulate the steel or other substrate completely with a permanent, tough, glass-based coating and there will be no corrosion. In addition to that, the  hull must also be cleanable in or out of the water without damage to the coating or to the marine environment.

Evidence is piling up. Major shipping lines are coming back to us again and again, asking us to coat their ships’ rudders, thruster tunnels, nozzles, scrubber outlets and a number of other specific parts which are particularly prone to corrosion, even when they are coated with traditional hull coatings. Why? Because our coatings really do protect their ships from corrosion. They find that they can even dispense with cathodic protection since the coating insulates the steel so completely that galvanic corrosion is prevented. And they can improve hull performance.

Corrosion Protection and Ship Hull Performance

After many years of dealing with these requests successfully, we decided to publish a book written by the company’s founder, Boud Van Rompay:.  Corrosion Protection and Ship Hull Performance– The key to ending corrosion and improving performance in ships. This was originally published as The Corrosion Handbook, but was expanded in January 2026 to include ship hull performance as well as corrosion protection.

In its pages you will find the answers to the permanent protection of a number of parts of the ship from corrosion, and a coating system which will permit a smoother hull long term, with consequent reduction in fuel consumption

In Part I, the different types of corrosion are covered:

• Cavitation erosion on rudders, in thruster tunnels, nozzles and other cavitation-prone parts of the underwater ship.
• Chemical corrosion in scrubbers, pipes, recycle tanks and scrubber outlet areas.
• Impact abrasion and wear on boottops, shipsides, ice belts, bulbous bows, decks, etc.
• Longterm corrosion in static offshore assets.

Why these specific areas? Because these are the parts of ships that we are regularly asked to provide the right coating for. These are the areas with which we have had enormous success, evidenced by the requests from major shipping companies to provide the same treatment for ship after ship in their fleet.

Corrosion Protection and Ship Hull Performance also covers the protection of high traffic decks, the bulbous bows of ice going vessels, stabilizer fins, unusual items such as the Hull Vanes®, even the hoppers of dredgers. Anywhere where corrosion and erosion resulting from cavitation, chemical action or high impact abrasion is a threat, we have the permanent solution.

The Corrosion Handbook provides in very concise form the exact proven answer to each of these types of corrosion and parts of the ship. It includes many examples showing the workability of the solution and of our coatings.

In Part II, a simple and workable approach to keeping the ship’s hull smooth so as to minimize friction and fuel consumption is given. The subjects of hull roughness, biofouling, in-water cleaning and how to prevent the transfer of invasive aquatic species are all covered.

Apply once, last forever

The book makes it quite clear that Subsea Industries does NOT follow the repeat business model so common in the coatings industry today, where coatings are expected to last a limited period of time before they need to be replaced.

Our coatings are applied once to a well-prepared surface and are expected to last the life of the vessel. At most minor touch-ups might be required in drydock to repair mechanical damage. There are many examples of this  in Corrosion Protection and Ship Hull Performance.

No excuses

 Corrosion Protection and Ship Hull Performance covers in simple, practical terms the handlings we have developed and that have proved so successful for these various types of corrosion in ships as well as for improving the ship’s performance. It explains the problems, states the solutions and provides ample case studies and customer feedback. It also provides practical information on applying the coatings both at newbuild stage, and in drydock for vessels already in service, and explains which coating is used for what specific problem.

What you will not find anywhere in the  Corrosion Protection and  Ship Hull Performance is excuses for failure or reasons why certain parts of the ship will suffer from corrosion no matter what you do. We simply have not run into that situation.

Getting your hands on the book

Corrosion Protection and Ship Hull Performance is not for sale. You will not find it online or in bookstores. If you would like your own copy, please email us with your full name, company name and position or professional/academic affiliation, and a postal address. We will send you a printed copy of the book at no cost. If you need more than one copy, let us know. A digital version is also available on request.