Ship&Offshore | Issue 06/2025
Hull coatings more critical than ever in decarbonisation drive
Until recently, underwater hull coatings were purely a commercial consideration. Now they are also a key component in shipping’s drive to cut greenhouse gas emissions (GHG). Even so, there are many thousands of ships in service with old coating products that constantly gather fouling and increase fuel burn costing millions of dollars a week, with corresponding emissions. However, as fuel costs rise dramatically in the years ahead, adopting carefully formulated coating strategies based on variables including ship type, speed, region of deployment, idle time, and so on, will become essential....