Underwater Hull Cleaning

If you have come to this page, you are probably interested in learning more about underwater hull cleaning. You may be asking questions such as: What is underwater hull cleaning? Why is it important? Both of these questions are highly relevant. We will therefore seek to answer them to the best of our ability.

So, what is hull cleaning? To answer this question, we first need to account for what a hull is. A hull is, simply explained, a ship´s body. Most of the body, beside, for example, the deck, is placed underwater. Large areas of a ship´s body are therefore exposed to marine fouling. Examples of marine fouling could, for instance, be tubeworms, mussels and other organisms. Such organisms stick to a ship´s body, which creates a roughness in the former smooth surface.

Now you may be wondering why this is problematic. The build-up of marine fouling on a ship´s body is problematic, because it can affect various factors of a ship´s performance. Marine fouling can, for instance, influence speed, but it can also affect factors such as fuel consumption. Underwater hull cleaning should therefore be treated as an integral part of the maintenance of a ship. This leads us to the answer of “why is hull cleaning important?”.

Underwater hull cleaning is important because it is a means to ensure optimal performance. Research has, for instance, shown that “periodic hull cleaning leads to significant reduction in the daily fuel consumption” – source. Investing in hull cleaning is therefore worthwhile.