South Korean marine supplier Tas Global Co., Ltd and Danish environmental consultant DHI Water and Environment are the latest entities to join the Global Industry Alliance (GIA) for Marine Biosafety, which now counts seven members.
Launched in June 2020 by the IMO GloFouling Partnerships project, the initiative works to promote collaboration with the private sector to address these two most pressing environmental issues: invasive species and GHG emissions.
Therefore, the new members of the GIA join forces with an expanding group of leading private sector champions representing a wide range of maritime industries affected by biofouling, including shipping, aquaculture, offshore oil and gas and ocean renewable energies.
Biofouling is the build-up of aquatic organisms, such as algae or small animals, on marine surfaces that can lead to the introduction of potentially invasive species to new environments, where they may threaten native species and cause irreversible damage to biodiversity. Additionally, biofouling increases the drag of ships, forcing them to burn more fuel to maintain speed.
See also: Hull Biofouling – old problem, new challenges
Meanwhile, the reduction of GHG emissions from shipping is making headlines in the last years, with the landmark IMO strategy on GHG adopted in April 2018.
See also: 2020 and consequences for maritime GHG emissions
The other five members of GIA are German shipping company Hapag-Lloyd, CleanSubSea, ECOsubsea, HullWiper and Sonihull.
