Study: Barnacles can slow maritime decarbonization push

Maritime shipping decarbonization

Climatetech Climatetech

A new study has found that an increase in barnacles clinging to ship hulls can increase resistance and require more fuel, complicating decarbonization efforts.

The study was published by Swedish biotechnology company I-Tech AB, which produces a barnacle-removing technology called Selektope.

I-Tech found that more than 20% of ships in a sample group at a dry dock had more than 20% of their underwater hull surface covered with barnacle biofouling.

In the sample size of 685 ships, only 140 vessels had less than 0.1% barnacle biofueling coverage.

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Biofouling Threatens Maritime Fuel Efficiency and Emissions Targets

“The findings that more than one fifth of vessels in this study had more than 20% barnacle biofouling is concerning,” I-Tech Technical Director Markus Hoffman said.

“This reinforces the fact that antifouling coating systems with good static performance, boosted by the presence of biocides that target hard fouling…are an absolute necessity if barnacle fouling is to be reduced to much lower levels.”

The maritime industry, long criticized for its lack of initiative in decreasing emissions, last month passed a carbon levy.

Jax Jacobsen

Jax is a longtime science journalist covering mining, energy, geosciences, and international affairs. She is currently Editorial Director at Climate Insider, and has previously worked as Deputy Editor at Mining Magazine, Paris Bureau Chief at Mergermarket, and Senior Reporter at S&P Global. She's been published in Reuters, The New Statesman, The Guardian, The Montreal Gazette, CNN, The Ecologist, and other publications (including Mining Magazine, Mining Journal, The Northern Miner). She's worked as a journalist in the US, UK, France, and Canada.

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