Hamilton-based tanker shipping company Teekay Tankers plans to install Shipshave, a semi-autonomous hull cleaning tool, on four more vessels this year.
The installation plans are being revealed on the back of a successful trial period during sea passages to keep a silicone-coated hull free of fouling which the tanker owner carried out in coordination with Hempel Paint.
The move is part of the company’s energy efficiency strategy aimed at meeting the company’s GHG reduction goals.
The innovative system is developed by the Norwegian company Shipshave. The In-Transit Cleaning of Hulls (ITCH) allows the crew to clean the hull while a ship is sailing, instead of hiring specialists, and dispose of removed fouling far from shores to avoid invasive species disturbing marine life.
The semi-autonomous hull cleaning robot comprises a winch on the foredeck of the vessel that tethers the robot. The robot is equipped with soft brushes, harvests propulsion energy to clean the vertical sides of the hull underwater, and sweeps up and down. It travels with a defined pattern with controlled brush forces.
The system is intended to be proactively applied before fouling becomes a real problem, but it can also remove settled fouling by repetitive operations, according to Shipshave.
The system has been utilized by industry majors such as Stolt Tankers and Klaveness Combination Carriers (KCC).
After a successful pilot of Shipshave’s solution onboard four vessels over 2021-22, KCC has confirmed an order for purchasing a further five latest generation Shipshave ITCH models.
According to the company, the decision was made after analyzing the fuel performance of the four vessels operating a Shipshave ITCH, which showed improvements in fuel efficiency between 2-5%.