ECOsubsea launches new eco-friendly hull cleaning technology

ECOsubsea has launched a new environmentally friendly cleaning technology to combat deficiencies in traditional hull-cleaning practices.

Tor Østervold, ECOsubsea said, “Some challenges you can fix overnight, some might take a week or a month, and some take 11 years. We’re addressing a problem that impacts upon shipowners, ports and, bearing in mind the environmental implications, upon society itself. So, it was never going to be an overnight fix!”

Østervold continued, “We have developed revolutionary technology here, and I firmly believe it can be the ‘missing piece of the jigsaw’ in terms of the industry’s quest for greater sustainability.”

The product is a remotely operated underwater vehicle, which clings to ships and works over the entire hull area, removing all biofouling, before vacuuming it away for on-shore collection, filtration and use for biogas. The entire process takes an average of 8.5 hours, with the ‘COLLECTOR’ unit amassing over 97.5% of everything that is removed from the hull.

Østervold explained, “This far exceeds the most stringent local and international regulations, meaning ECOsubsea cleaning can be done in any port, anywhere. And as our solution uses high pressure ‘soft jets’ of water, instead of abrasive brushes, the integrity of vessel coatings is completely safeguarded, while the quality of cleaning far out strips what is possible through manual scrubbing.”

For the time being the Østervold brothers are focused on spreading news of their own developments, targeting quality conscious owners and ports that are open to innovation.

Østervold concluded, “I think this will become the new standard in cleaning operations, but it will take time to embed itself throughout the industry. Right now, we’re focusing on the maritime leaders that are already aware of the compelling benefits of clean hulls and the enormous toll that biofouling takes on the environment (both in terms of emissions and invasive species). They will be the early adopters that lead the way to greater acceptance throughout shipping as a whole.”

For more information, visit ECOsubsea. Sign up to our newsletter to get the best of Yachting Pages delivered direct to your inbox every month.