Peak Performance

 

FuelEU came into force this January, applying to all commercial vessels over 5,000 gross tons transporting passengers or cargo.

It's part of the E.U.'s "Fit for 55" legislative package, aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55 percent by 2030 and achieving climate neutrality by 2050. The regulation promotes increased use of renewable, low-carbon fuels and alternative energy sources at sea.

The IMO's Carbon Intensity Indicator (CII) is a valuable tool for supporting "Fit for 55" goals. CII requires ships to assess their annual operational carbon intensity, measured in grams of CO2 emitted per cargo carrying capacity per nautical mile. A vessel's CII rating will decline over time unless continual improvements are made to reduce carbon intensity.

Taken together, these initiatives highlight two key focus areas: the type of fuel used and how efficiently the vessel moves through water. The latter is where modern hull-coating technology plays a crucial role.

CHOOSE WISELY

The first step in optimizing hull coating is selecting the right solution.

AkzoNobel, maker of International Paint, has developed Intertrac Vision – a predictive tool, supported by a team of hull performance experts, that helps shipowners identify the most suitable coating. Chris Birkert, Marine Segment Manager, says the company "worked with a record number of customers last year to support selection of the right underwater hull schemes to comply with the Carbon Intensity Indicator."

Recent updates to the tool include CII rating prediction, E.U. Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) cost impact and detailed savings analysis across multiple drydockings, thereby enhancing data-driven decisions on fouling-control coatings for global operators. It provides forecasts over a 120-month cycle, enough to cover two 60-month dockings.

This allows owners and operators to assess the long-term benefits of proper coating selection. Combined with AkzoNobel's technical expertise, Intertrac Vision offers insight into operational improvements and supports smarter investment decisions.

HIGH-PERFORMANCE COATINGS

The largest factor affecting ship performance is resistance caused by water friction on the hull.

Hull fouling increases resistance and reduces efficiency, making a smooth hull that is free of biofouling essential. Your coating is the foundation of performance.

GIT Coatings (Graphite Innovation & Technologies Inc), a Canadian company, develops sustainable graphene-based hull and propeller coatings. Its XGIT-FUEL, a graphene-based, hard foul release coating, creates an ultra-low friction surface, reducing drag by 15 percent compared to soft foul release coatings. The patented XGIT® technology forms a hydrated layer that deters biofouling settlement and attachment as the vessel moves through water.

Efficiency gains from XGIT-FUEL have been independently verified by Lloyd's Register, showing an average 10 percent shaft power reduction at various speeds.

The key lies in the coating's toughness. More resistant to mechanical damage than traditional SPC and foul release coatings, it's ideal for frequent underwater grooming and cleaning without compromising performance.

GIT's XGIT-GROOM program pairs this ultra-hard coating with routine hull grooming delivered by approved partners.

Traditional hull cleaning is typically reactive and relies on equipment that damages coatings and reduces antifouling effectiveness. Modern hull grooming is proactive – using underwater robots for frequent, gentle cleaning and consistent vessel performance.

To achieve optimal results, a hard, smooth coating is essential, and that's exactly what GIT delivers.

INDUSTRY-FIRST APPLICATION METHOD

Selecting the right coating is the first step. Applying it to the hull comes next.

Pittsburgh-based PPG brings 40 years of electrostatic coating experience from the automotive, aerospace and manufacturing sectors to the maritime industry. It's the first company to introduce electrostatic application to shipping, supported by specially developed, high-tech coatings.

This technology boosts transfer efficiency over traditional spraying. EDR Antwerp shipyard achieved a 40 percent reduction in overspray through the electrostatic application of PPG SIGMAGLIDE 2390 fouling release coating. The project was carried out on the underwater hull of the ro-ro passenger vessel Stena Transporter.

"Electrostatic application increases the weather window for painting and drastically reduces overspray," notes Philippe Trouillard, Commercial Manager, EDR. "Less masking and dock-covering also save time and costs."

With continued investment in R&D, PPG has developed coatings that offer superior durability while meeting strict environmental standards. Longer-lasting performance reduces the need for reapplication, delivering both environmental and economic advantages for shipowners.

HIGH-TECH GROOMING

When it comes to hull grooming technology, Greensea IQ (a GIT Coatings-approved partner) offers the most robust autonomous solution in the industry with more deployments on its software platform than any competitor.

Greensea EverClean® is the industry's leading provider of robotic hull-cleaning services – like a Roomba for ship hulls, except with a double Ph.D. in machine learning and robotics.

Traditional navigation systems rely on magnetics, gravity and a universal coordinate system, all ineffective when stuck to the bottom of a ship. Instead, Greensea took a first-principles approach, developing a system that focuses not on where the robot is, but where it has been, with 100 percent accuracy.

This is combined with a system using dead reckoning, sonar and video data to detect and identify hull features to build a map of the hull. The map is relayed to the operator, who can quickly align it with the ship's hull, make sense of the environment and assess the completion of the service.

The robot does more than clean. It gathers real-time data on hull condition including damaged areas, defective coatings and surface roughness. This data is uploaded to Greensea's cloud platform, called EverClean IQ, and produces a service and hull-condition report, helping Asset Managers take early action to maintain peak vessel performance.

Hull grooming is hygiene, like brushing your teeth. But its greatest value is allowing coating manufacturers to focus on hardness, durability and hydrodynamic performance without compromising biofouling prevention.

Greensea's 2025 theme is expansion with services launching in fifteen new ports including Freeport and Nassau, plus support in anchorages. The company will also enter Rotterdam, Southampton and Hamburg by year-end.

Greensea's business isn't robotics. It's ship efficiency. Its cleaning operations deliver unmatched precision, minimal repetition and accurate data collection, offering an "always clean hull" maintenance solution with a condition report after every service.

MONITORING PERFORMANCE

Hull coating management is no longer a "one and done" task confined to drydockings.

Modern technology now allows operators to optimize inspection intervals and manage the coating lifecycle from drydock to drydock. Jotun's HullKeeper platform offers a suite of tools to support this approach.

The core of this platform is the alerts service. Open-source data – including AIS vessel movements, oceanographic data and existing hull protection specs – is fed into Jotun's proprietary algorithm that triggers inspection notification when the fouling risk reaches a certain threshold, based on accumulated marine growth.

Inspections can be carried out at one of Jotun's 75 inspection sites with results registered into the platform to validate the algorithm on the actual underwater hull condition. This data-driven approach helps operators avoid unnecessary cleaning, which can damage or strip coatings.

The platform also includes advisory services for optimizing idling time plus oceanographic evaluation, key factors in managing biofouling risk.

Jotun's goal is to become a long-term partner in optimizing the sailing interval between drydocks, which often receives the least attention but has the greatest impact. HullKeeper bridges that gap, supporting shipowners with a dock-to-dock solution.

FULL LIFECYCLE SOLUTIONS

With ever more stringent requirements driven by a need for continuous improvement, every aspect of a hull coating's lifecycle must be optimized. High tech coatings, new application methods and a system of continuing maintenance and monitoring all provide measurable results in improving efficiency and reducing emissions.

As we move towards our decarbonization goals as an industry, every improvement helps.

SEAN HOGUE is Executive Vice President at Baker Marine Solutions.