ROBUST - Integrated Coating & Cleaning Concept for Offshore Structures​

From 30.08.2021 to 01.09.2021, the Hull Performance & Insight Conference (HullPIC) and the PortPIC took place in Pontignano, Italy. The PortPIC conference focused on presentations and discussion panels on the topics of cleaning and grooming of ship hulls. There is an emerging trend towards gentle intermediate cleaning of ships with biocide-containing antifouling coatings at relatively short intervals in order to reduce frictional resistance and thus fuel costs and CO2 emissions. At the same time, however, the top layer (approx. 10 µm) of the antifouling is removed in the process, causing biocides and microplastics to be discharged into the waters and reducing the duration of the coating's effectiveness. Such a process would therefore also not be permitted in German territorial waters.

Bernd Daehne from our Institute for Antifouling and Biocorrosion gave a presentation at the conference entitled: "ROBUST: Integrated Coating & Cleaning Concept for Offshore Structures".

It was the only presentation dealing with a cleaning of non-biocidal coatings developed by the project partners Fraunhofer IFAM and Momentive Performance Materials.

You can find the presentation and the conference proceedings HERE.