Selektope Coatings for Stena RoPax Newbuilds

Stena RoRo, who has four newbuild RoPax ferries on order at the AVIC yard in Weihai, China, has signed a contract to coat the hulls with paint that incorporates the bio-repellent antifouling ingredient Selektope.

According to Selektope’s developer, Gothenburg based bio-tech company I-Tech AB, its pharmacological mode of action combats barnacle settlement on ships’ hulls by temporarily stimulating the barnacle larvae’s swimming behavior.

The organic, non-metal compound is characterized by high efficacy at extremely low concentrations (0.1 percent w/w), ultra-low leaching and flexibility to boost copper-based paint formulations or to replace copper completely.

Selektope even repels barnacles even when ships are idle, allowing fuel saving claims made by coatings suppliers to cover the ship’s entire operational cycle.

“[Stena RoRo’s] investment in a premium antifouling product that contains Selektope will deliver strong antifouling performance with the additional benefit that their high-activity vessels will have the best protection from barnacle invasion,” said Philip Chaabane, CEO I-Tech AB.

To date, marine coating products containing Selektope have been applied to more than 150 vessels including; tankers, containerships and LNG carriers, in a series of newbuilding and over-coating projects.

The Stena newbuilds are scheduled for delivery in 2019/2020.