Hull Cleaning Envirocart Achieves Positive Copper Result

Franmarine of Australia’s Envirocart hull cleaning system has achieved positive results regarding copper emissions. 

Testing showed that the in-water cleaning process using the Envirocart System had no observable effect on copper or other heavy metal contamination levels in the local environment, with no detectable increase in copper concentration near, or out from the treated waste discharge point during or after the cleaning exercise, nor around the vessel after cleaning had been completed.
 
Furthermore, measurement of allowable contaminants in the final discharge back into the water stands at 8 ppm in Australia’s case. The most stringent regulations in the world in this regard are in California at 5 ppm and Antartica of 3 ppm considered to be pristine conditions. Envirocart’s measurable results presented a case of only 2 ppm which means the company can take this technology to anywhere in the world and not be prevented form introducing it, from an environmental standpoint.
 
A second report will detail the measurements of biocide concentration in debris and the rate and quantity removed during cleaning. These enable the comparison of biocide release from in-water cleaning with that released passively by an active antifouling paint, and estimation of the biocide removed from known areas of surface. The latter will enable the estimation of biocide removal and release through in-water cleaning on vessels of different sizes and underwater hull areas.

These are outstanding results and bode well for the future of the Envirocart and its associated technology, says Franmarine. “These scientific reports have already been submitted to the regulators and we are waiting on their findings to move forward. We expect final approval from the regulatory authorities for in-water hull cleaning to be forthcoming by September 2016,” says the company.