Team Tankers will protect four more ships against barnacles with Selektope

Image: Team Tankers

Chemical tanker owner and operator Team Tankers International is to protect four more ships with the bio-active anti-barnacle agent Selektope.

The decision follows successful fouling prevention performance during a 40-month trial of an antifouling coating containing the technology on an MR tanker in its fleet.

The vertical sides of the 46,067 dwt chemical and products carrier Team Calypso were coated with Chugoku Marine Paints’ Seaflo Neo CF-Premium antifouling coating, which contains Selektope, during its five-year drydocking at the Sembcorp shipyard, Singapore in 2015.

During the last 40 months the MR tanker has been in active operation across a wide range of trade routes globally, often sailing in global biofouling hotspots with > 25°C (up to 32°C) water temperatures where the risk of biofouling is very high. The vessel has also spent several extended periods idling in these zones.

However, during the trial, barnacles failed to anchor themselves to the tanker’s hull thanks to the protection from Selektope.

Selektope works by activating the barnacle larvae’s octopamine receptor, keeping them in swimming mode and preventing them from attaching to the hull with non-fatal effect.

A hull inspection conducted at month 35 in the tanker’s in-water-survey schedule established that Team Calypso’s hull was virtually barnacle free with no soft fouling coverage.

Independent third-party data analysis has also verified the fouling prevention performance of the Selektope-containing hull coating. At month 40, total added resistance on Team Calypso’s hull and propeller due to fouling is exceptionally low, at 16%, compared to up to 30% expected for a reference ship of similar age, size and trading patterns. Of that 16% total, added resistance on the hull accounted for 10% whereas added resistance on the propeller accounted for the remaining 7%. The development of added resistance was calculated at a rate equivalent to 0.4% per month, compared to the expected rate of between 0.5% and 1.5%.

Philip Chaabane CEO of biotech company I-Tech AB, which developed and markets Selektope, comments: “This tanker owner is reaping the fuel saving benefits associated with a Selektope-powered antifouling coating. The independent data analysis coupled with the underwater hull inspection prove that Selektope delivers strong protection from hard fouling, whatever the vessel’s activity or trading pattern.”

“Team Calypso has operated for over three years since last dry dock, and we can conclude that the fouling of the hull remains at a very low level and we hope the trend will continue being flat,” says Team Tankers Performance & Environmental Manager Capt. Pär Brandholm. “We anticipate similar performance for our vessels Team Tapatio, Team Toccata, Team Tosca and Team Leader using the same hull coating containing Selektope.”

“Chugoku Marine Paints is proud to offer an antifouling system containing Selektope that delivers outstanding performance for a multitude of vessel types, docking intervals, trading patterns and activity,” says Chugoku Marine Paints Sales Manager Northern Europe Peter Douma. “The effectiveness of our Seaflo Neo CF-Premium has been demonstrated by the results achieved on Team Calypso.”