Damen Shipyards and the Port of Amsterdam have launched a pilot project to test Thorn-D, a relatively new antifouling film that is applied to ships’ hulls below the water line (with video).
The film has an expected lifetime of five years, much longer than conventional antifouling coatings, which need to be replaced every six months on average. Dr Rik Breur, the founder of supplier Micanti, developed the film and tested it extensively on trial surfaces and work vessels. That attracted the attention of the Port of Amsterdam.
One Year Pilot
Damen has applied the antifouling film to one of the port’s patrol vessels. ‘We are using two boats in the pilot project: one with the film and the other with a conventional antifouling coating,’ says Willem Spoelstra of the Port of Amsterdam’s Nautical Division. ‘The pilot will run for a year and we have agreed with Micanti that the film has to remain problem-free for at least two years. They have given us certain guarantees concerning durability and so on, in any event. We can now assume that the film will not come off. The great thing about this test is that the two vessels will be operating in precisely the same area. That is ideal for a pilot project.’
Thorn-D
The film is being marketed internationally under the brand name Thorn-D. Breur, managing director and owner of Micanti, and Eric Pieters, commercial director and co-owner, can already point to their product’s proven performance. Two vessels – one a tug belonging to Dutch company BMS Towing and another located in Florida – have already been operating for some time after application of the antifouling film. The film has so far been tested up to 30 knots.
Breakthrough
‘We can now say that we have achieved a breakthrough with our application: we will be applying our film to a fleet of approximately fifteen work vessels and crew vessels in the months ahead,’ says Pieters. ‘They include boats run by towing companies in the Netherlands, the Middle East and a tug owned by the Port of Los Angeles.’
Watch the animated video of the Thorn-D antifouling film below.
