Sunny Seawork: Bright Future

There was lots of pent-up interest in Sonihull’s technology following two years of trade show disruptions

Sonihull has just attended the first B2B commercial marine trade show in the UK since 2019. The Coventry-based firm that is leading the way in cleaning up the oceans and slashing CO2 emissions with its ground-breaking antifouling technology, was glad to be back at Seawork.

“With in-person shows coming back onto the schedule, the whole Sonihull team has been very keen to return to Seawork,” said Sonihull Director Darren Rowlands. “The weather has been great for three days and we’ve all been busy catching up with our customers and meeting lots of new ones.”

Sonihull was at Seawork to exhibit its antifouling technology, which uses the power of ultrasound to keep surfaces clear of algae, weeds and barnacles. Having clean surfaces reduces drag, fuel burn, CO2 emissions and maintenance costs. As well as taking a huge step toward carbon neutrality, Sonihull’s technology can also save up to 90% of the lifetime maintenance costs of traditional antifouling systems and all with zero environmental impact.

“Our fit-and-forget technology removes the need for toxic chemicals and is transforming the way that maritime sectors are approaching antifouling,” said Rowlands, adding: “Taking propellers in isolation, it has been estimated that if Sonihull prop-protection systems were fitted on every commercial vessel in the world, global ship emissions would be reduced by between 160 and 408 million tonnes of CO2 every year.”

The Decarbonisation Challenge

With tightening emissions regulations and an extremely volatile oil market, lifecycle vessel fuel & maintenance costs have become the most significant factors when calculating fleet transportation costs.

With that in mind, vessel operators and designers are looking at ways to reduce fuel consumption, reduce GHG emissions and improve vessel efficiency, wherever they can.

Taking propellers in isolation, it has been estimated that if Sonihull prop-protection systems were fitted on every commercial vessel in the world, global ship emissions would be reduced by between 160 and 408 million tonnes of CO2 every year.

Darren Rowlands, Sonihull

By preventing the establishment of marine bio-fouling just on propellers, Sonihull systems can address over 30% of a vessel’s potential efficiency losses. This immediately reduces fuel consumption, reduces GHG emissions, removes the requirement for specialist cleaning/polishing schedules and reduces operator costs. In larger vessels, the return on investment (ROI) is seen in a matter of weeks, just in fuel savings alone. Now that fuel costs are soaring, the ROI period is even shorter.

In smaller vessel applications, Sonihull has antifouling solutions and a full range of surface-mounting adaptors for other important areas, like hulls, control surfaces, waterjets, and RSW pipework for cooling systems.