Stena has signed a contract to coat the hulls of four newbuild RoPax ferries with paint that incorporates the bio-repellent antifouling ingredient Selektope®. According to the company, the organic, non-metal compound is the only one of its kind in marine antifouling application.
The key features of the antifouling are high efficacy at extremely low concentrations (0.1% w/w), ultra-low leaching and flexibility – to boost copper-based paint formulations or to replace copper completely-, hard fouling protection, resulting in lower water resistance and decreased fuel consumption, in addition to lower maintenance costs.
Moreover, it repels barnacles even when ships are idle, allowing fuel saving claims made by coatings suppliers to cover the ship’s entire operational cycle.
“Their investment in a premium antifouling product that contains Selektope® will deliver strong antifouling performance with the additional benefit that their high-activity vessels will have the best protection from barnacle invasion” says Philip Chaabane, CEO I-Tech AB.
The delivery of the newbuild Stena RoPax ferries is scheduled for 2019/2020. They will be built at the AVIC yard in Weihai, China.
