Marine antifouling solutions

Marine biofouling is an issue which must be seriously considered when installing any structure or launching any vehicle into an aquatic environment. Accumulation of fouling organisms leads to increases in submerged weight but, far more importantly, such fouling significantly affects the hydrodynamic performance of subsea structures and equipment.

At Group HQ in Aberdeen, Balmoral operates what is believed to be the industry’s only purpose built marine antifouling coating line. The semi-automated facility enables the company to apply a range of coatings to its surface and subsurface products.

Balmoral worked with a market-leading marine antifouling paint supplier to develop Balmoral COPPERCLAD™ which is a complete coating and application system designed to achieve outstanding bonding performance between polyethylene or polyurethane substrates and a slow biocide release antifouling coating system.

Balmoral COPPERCLAD is based upon a silyl-acrylate binder that exhibits continuous slow solution and hydrolysis in seawater. This gradually releases biocide components into the surface/water interface to ensure continuous protection of the coated structure.

Full technical details of these systems can be obtained by contacting Balmoral.