We have been coating ice-going ships for over 15 years. The technical, economic and ecological results we have witnessed are nothing less than spectacular.
Technical
The first thing one looks for in an ice-going coating is a resistance to the ice. The reason why Ecospeed is such a success in ice is because of the adhesion to the steel. In itself the coating is not flexible, but due to its superior adhesion the coating flexes with the steel. There is no delamination and no detachment from the substrate.
Economic
Ecospeed ships do not have to be recoated. Ice-breaking (and other) ships save an enormous time in drydock. Instead of twelve days you only have to spend four or five days in dock because only small touch-ups are required. These are very easy to do, even in bad weather and any repair done to an Ecospeed coating will have the same qualities and strength as the original layers. This is even the case if they have been applied 10 or 15 years before.
A combination of the corrugation of the coating and the absence of marine growth in ice results in a proven reduction of consumption. Depending on the size of the ship, the engines used and other specifications these fuel savings can go from 10%, 20% or even 30%.
The smoothness of the coating also provides for easier breaking of the ice. The ship slices through the ice because hull friction is substantially reduced.
Ecospeed has been recognized as an abrasion resistant ice coating by Lloyd’s Register. Using our coating allows the plate thickness to be reduced by 1 mm. Ships can be build with less material and will be less expensive to build and lighter to use.
Ecological
With Ecospeed on the underwater hull there is no loss of coating. There is no disbondment, no detachment and no delamination caused by ice impact. Our coating systems leave no paint behind. There is no spreading of anti-fouling toxic particles and heavy metals, because they are simply not used in our coating. Ships can safely be taken to the Polar regions without having a damaging effect on the environment or coloring the ice.
Because of the quality of the coating Ecospeed requires no use of anodes. As a result there is no loss of zinc materials in the Polar or other regions. No corrosion takes place on ships coated with Ecospeed.
When the cleaning effect of the ice is not sufficient all animal growth can be removed easily with intermediate underwater cleaning. There is no detrimental effect on the marine life. There is no chemical influence. The problem of biofouling is therefore completely handled. The animals are removed and left behind in their native environmental zone. They are not transported to another environmental zone. We promote this as a total solution because achieving this only depends on the cleaning of the ship.
Conclusion
Well over a hundred ice-going ships have been coated with our products with great and conclusive results. Our Ecospeed coating was also selected for the newbuild research vessel RRS Sir David Attenborough.
Over a period of fifteen years these have shown that Ecospeed can withstand the impact of ice for many years. It is not a coating system that you get for one or two years, it is a system that you get for twenty years and longer.
Contact us for more information:
+ 32 3 213 5318
info@subind.net