More Danish ports approve HullWiper hull cleaning ROV

JULY 7, 2015 —Authorities at the Danish ports of Copenhagen, Kalundborg and Fredricia have granted permission for GAC EnvironHull’s pioneering, diver-free, underwater HullWiper solution to be used within their ports and outside of holding areas.

From an environmental perspective, a clean hull significantly enhances vessel speed and performance by reducing resistance, thereby decreasing carbon emissions and fuel consumption. However, traditional hull cleaning methods using divers with brushes can present a risk to the delicate eco-system and damage expensive anti-fouling hull coatings.

GAC says that the need for an environmentally friendly and cost-effective hull cleaning solution is met by using its HullWiper Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV).

HullWiper uses seawater under high pressure as the cleaning medium instead of brushes or abrasives, resulting in minimal damage to the antifouling surface.

It also incorporates a unique cleaning control system that allows the operator to easily control water pressure and monitor the cleaning process through forward and aft facing CCTV cameras. The need to employ divers for the cleaning job is therefore eliminated, cutting operational costs and the risk to human life.

Residues are collected in a special waste filter unit connected with the ROV, then disposed of in an environmentally-friendly manner instead of being discharged into the sea as is done using traditional methods.

“The granting of permission to use HullWiper in these three Danish ports represents the latest in our growing list of approvals around the world,” says Simon Doran, Managing Director of GAC EnvironHull. “At a time when Scandinavian governments are focused on building upon their strong and stringent environmental credentials, these approvals are testament to the faith that the authorities place on this pioneering technology to help further this.”

HullWiper was launched in late 2013 in the Mid East, where it is now available at Dubai, Fujairah and Sharjah (UAE) and Sohar in Oman. It entered the European market last year, and was launched in Singapore and Malaysia at Sea Asia 2015 in June this year.