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Contents Page 3 RRS Ernest Shackleton – a breakthrough in icebreaker hull protection Page 8 On site seal repairs around the world keep ships out of drydock Page 13 <strong>Hydrex</strong> White Paper No. 6 Introduction ISO 9001 certified <strong>Underwater</strong> services and technology approved by: Supreme Rudder Protection Ecospeed gives a very thorough and lasting defense against cavitation and corrosion damage for a ship hull’s entire service life. The coating equally provides the rudder with an impenetrable protective layer while its flexibility enables absorption of the forces that are produced by cavitation. This prevents the damage normally caused by this phenomenon. Without proper protection against cavitation and the resulting erosion and corrosion damage, the financial consequences can be severe. By removing the existing paint layers and applying Ecospeed on the rudder we can break the never ending cycle. of painting, suffering damage, having to perform extensive repairs in drydock followed by a full repainting, again and again. With an Ecospeed application no full repaint will be needed during drydocking. Ecospeed is guaranteed for ten years. At the most, minor touch-ups will be required. Belgian headquarters Phone: + 32 3 213 5318 Fax: + 32 3 213 5321 info@ecospeed.be 2 US Office Phone: + 1 727 443 3900 Fax: + 1 727 443 3990 info@ecospeed.us www.ecospeed.be
RRS Ernest Shackleton – a breakthrough in icebreaker hull protection When British Antarctic Survey’s RRS (Royal Research Ship) Ernest Shackleton was drydocked recently in Denmark, the superintendent, engineers and paint specialists there to check the condition of the hull paint were amazed. After two seasons of battering its way through ice up to 2.5 meters thick with a high content of gravel and volcanic lava adding to its abrasiveness, the hull coating was virtually intact and undamaged. This was in strong contrast to the Shackleton’s previous drydocking, when almost the entire hull, bearing a conventional ice-going underwater hull coating, was practically stripped to bare, unprotected steel. The difference lay in the fact that when the Shackleton left drydock in 2009, the hull was newly coated with Ecospeed, a glassflake vinyl ester resin underwater hull coating proven to have extraordinary anti-corrosion protective strength and flexibility. Even though Ecospeed is not intended specifically for ice-going ships and icebreakers, it consistently outperforms the specialized ice-going ship bottom paints. The success of the new underwater hull coating on the Shackleton, whose hull can genuinely be said to undergo the harshest of conditions of just about any vessel afloat, is a story well worth telling in detail. As in many cases, a picture is worth the proverbial thousand words. In this case, two sets of pictures tell the story more dramatically than any description. Shackleton was initially coated with a conventional ice class paint in 1995, from build. BAS took over the operation of the Shackleton in 1999 and since then has only ever RRS Ernest Shackleton in Antarctic ice up to 2.5 m thick. repaired the hull coating using the recommended repair product. The pictures below show the condition of Shackleton’s hull after 13 years without “Ecospeed...consistently outperforms the specialized icegoing ship bottom paints.” a suitable ice class paint system and the comparison of Ecospeed after two hard years working in ice (next page). It is worth noting in the photos on the right above that neither the rudder nor the hull above the water line were coated with Ecospeed in 2009. This Three photos of the hull of RRS Ernest Shackleton showing the condition of the paint (conventional ice paint and corresponding repair coating) before Ecospeed was applied. 3
Page 1: NEWS LETTER | 178 RRS Ernest Shackl
Page 5 and 6: Examples of the minor scrapes and c
Page 7 and 8: deterioration in the paint system.
Page 9 and 10: While the team prepared a first ins
Page 11 and 12: delay for the customer was kept to
Page 13 and 14: Hydrex White Paper No. 6 Introducti
Page 15 and 16: speed of the vessel and the presenc

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