Send in the Robots for High-Frequency Biofouling Control

The currents in Singapore can be so strong that divers cleaning fouling from a ship’s hull can feel like they are swimming in a river. There’s times when it’s just not safe for them to be there.

The currents can be a problem for robotic cleaners as well, but for ship operators, the bigger problem is having to wait long after cargo operations have concluded while the hull is cleaned by either method.

And yet, many of the pressures they face for keeping the hull clean – invasive species, fuel efficiency, regulations – are pushing them towards more frequent cleaning schedules.

Situated at the intersection of major maritime trade routes, Singapore is one of many ports where competition is heating up. HullWiper has teamed up with Unidive Subsea to bring its ROV hull cleaning technology to PSA terminals, Seatrium Yards and Singapore’s inner anchorages.

Subsea Global Solutions is now authorized to provide its hull cleaning services in Singapore while vessels are engaged in cargo operations. Operable by non-diver ROV pilots or trained diver technicians means extended operational windows, with ROVs continuing work at night or during diver surface intervals.

Across the industry, speed is becoming an increasingly important point of competition amongst service providers. Hydro Hull Cleaning boasts its SeaBadger MKII ROV can remove biofouling at a rate of 33 meters per minute along a 1.2-meter-wide cleaning path, for example.

ECOsubsea’s ROV Pink Panther is 10 times faster than conventional cleaning methods, says ECOsubsea CEO Tor Østervold. "We cleaned a fully laden capesize vessel, with an 18-metre draft, in just four hours."

Subsea Global Solutions ROV can be operated by non-diver ROV pilots or trained diver technicians.
Image courtesy Subsea Global Solutions

The ROV’s efficiency reduces port stays. "Our ROV operates in over 2 knots of current, where divers face extreme hazards at even 1 knot," Østervold said. "This efficiency gap offers major time and cost benefits."

ECOsubsea is now actively engaging with waste-management firms and universities to process the collected biowaste which can also include paint fragments and microplastics. “We see the captured material as valuable data,” says Østervold. “Heavy metal and micro plastic data is valuable for the port to know, and for the shipowner it is important to know how many kilograms of biofouling was on the ship. When you measure it, you can manage the problem better.”

Hapag-Lloyd used Shipshave’s In-Transit Cleaning of Hull (ITCH) system to make fuel and emissions savings, with the results confirmed by DNV. The system was trialed on two container ships of different ages and with different trading profiles over a 17-month period. Return on investment from the ITCH system was under three months at sea in both cases.

The ITCH system can be used at normal operational speeds of 10-14 knots as is fitted with hydrofoils that keep it in cleaning position. That way, it is removing bio-fouling that is dispersed at deep sea away from habitats that could be at risk from invasive species. The system weighs just 4.5kg and is designed to be simple for the crew to use.

Small onboard systems can augment hull management even when larger systems are used in port. Featuring a swappable tool deck, Greensea IQ’s EverClean robot can be equipped with either ultrasonic thickness sensors and additional cameras or hull maintenance brushes that can clean microfouling from a vessel’s hull every 30-45 days. The EverClean robot is nonmagnetic, providing the ability to collect data like a traditional inspection ROV while still being able to attach and crawl the vessel to monitor fouling growth rates, evaluate cleaning effectiveness and assess coating conditions. It is provided as part of professionally managed hull performance service that includes a cloud-based reporting platform.

“Simply by removing biofouling as a variable and keeping it off, EverClean delivers a new flattened performance baseline, so you can stop monitoring noisy data searching for key events in perpetually normalizing data sets and instead discover small issues before they become big problems,” says Rob Howard, Chief Growth Officer at Greensea IQ.

Deep Trekker offers systems like the REVOLUTION, PIVOT and PHOTON ROVs which can be deployed quickly from vessels of any size. Integrated tools such as the BRIDGE App, BRIDGE Console and BRIDGE Box support advanced capabilities including dead reckoning navigation, photogrammetry for 3D modeling, camera optimization and mission planning. This allows ship owners to monitor hulls on a daily basis. “We’ll reach a point where fuel consumption will be so well understood that every shipowner will be able to find the optimal time to clean, whether it's on a three month basis or just simply based off statistics on how their ship is moving through the water,” says Cody Warner, Director, Sales & Marketing at Deep Trekker. “We’ll have enough data to be able to find that critical moment when it’s worth it to reduce the fuel spend at that moment. And then the cleaning process will be much more automated, whether it’s through a large robot or small.”

Subsea Global Solutions ROV can be operated by non-diver ROV pilots or trained diver technicians.
Image courtesy Subsea Global SolutionsThe impact of frequent hull cleaning on coatings is concerning shipowners, and hull cleaning robot companies are working to reassure them. Hullbot says its gentle brushes are effective on all coatings. Cleaning speed, pressure and brush type are adjusted to suit the vessel. “I was initially skeptical about cleaning our nine-year-old silicone antifouling,” said Kevin Mehrer, a superintendent at US ferry operator FRS Clipper, after undertaking bi-weekly cleaning with Hullbot’s solution. “I decided to try Hullbot, knowing that we planned to do a full bottom paint renewal the following year, regardless of the outcome. Now, after seeing the results in drydock, I’m pleased to share that the Hullbot service was highly effective in keeping the hull clean while preserving the integrity of the aging silicone paint. While we had seen this in the robot’s video footage, it was reassuring to confirm it firsthand.”

Jotun has teamed up its HullSkater robot and its SeaQuantum Skate coating as an always integrated and standard part of its Hull Skating Solutions (HSS). The HullSkater is always kept onboard the vessel, and the coating can endure repeated mechanical contact with the HullSkater without damage, explains Global Category Manager HSS in Jotun, Helle Vines Ertsås. Once the HullSkater is launched, it is remotely operated by dedicated Skate Operators from Jotun with operating hubs in strategically important places, enabling 24/7 support.

Jotun’s in-house data scientists and marine biologists have developed an algorithm predicting when fouling starts to occur on a vessel’s hull. As part of the monitoring, vessel performance is analyzed and documented using the ISO 19030 standard for hull and propeller performance. HSS also includes a coating advisory service, a regime for measuring and documenting the quality of the application process and a clean hull guarantee.

Jotun has conducted water quality tests to confirm that no additional paint particles escape into the sea. “Proving this compatibility is important for the vessel owner, the port where the cleaning is conducted and to the wider life below water,” says Ertsås.

Jotun has teamed up its HullSkater robot and its SeaQuantum Skate coating as part of its Hull Skating Solutions.
Image courtesy Jotun

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Greensea IQ Expands EverClean Platform


As global regulations tighten and the push for fuel efficiency intensifies, Greensea IQ is once again at the forefront of maritime innovation with an expanded version of its EverClean system—adding powerful new inspection capabilities to its proven autonomous hull maintenance platform.

Ben Kinnaman, CEO of Greensea IQ, explained that the company’s growth has been driven by its deep expertise in autonomy and precision navigation, initially honed in the defense sector. "We've taken those technologies and built product lines that serve underserved areas like seabed robotics, ship hull robotics, and preventative maintenance—all centered around lifecycle management and fuel efficiency," Kinnaman said. With the company growing at over 50% annually, Greensea IQ continues to push into new frontiers.

The original EverClean platform was developed as a robotics-as-a-service model, deploying small, autonomous robots to clean ship hulls regularly and collect critical hull performance data. This proactive maintenance strategy delivers significant gains in fuel efficiency by preventing the drag caused by marine growth.

“We were one of the first to have a small autonomous robot to effectively and meaningfully clean a ship,” said Kinnaman. And what we're seeing in this market already is a race to the bottom. We're seeing companies come out with glorified pool cleaning robots that require an operator to constantly drive them and clean a hull. The problem is the industry doesn't want anything like that. What the industry wants is fuel efficiency.”
Now, Greensea IQ has unveiled a new generation of EverClean: a dedicated autonomous inspection robot. Rather than simply cleaning, the new EverClean system is equipped with an advanced sensor suite, including ultrasonic thickness measurement, surface roughness assessment, and comprehensive visual and acoustic survey tools.

"This revision replaces the brush deck with a sensor system while keeping some spot-cleaning capability," said Kinnaman. "Through our cloud-based platform, EverClean IQ, we manage and deliver all hull condition data, supporting a full lifecycle and workflow management approach to ship maintenance."

“The industry doesn't care about cleaning a hull, and they really don't care about a hull cleaning robots,” said Kinnaman. “What they want is fuel efficiency. What we provide is a subscription to a better performing ship. We use these autonomous robots to provide that, but we also use the data that we collect off the hull to provide an optimally performing ship. So with that is the subscription to a better performing ship. And with this concept, with these autonomous robots, we're providing 15%, 20% fuel efficiency and fuel savings to our customers. You're not going to get that with just a hull cleaning robot.”