This hull was in the tide for two years
Two-year antifoul system saves operational costs
T
he survey period for most commercial vessels has been extended to two years, so why not put a two- year antifoul system on the bottom of your boat. This immediately saves the annual cost of slippage, hauling and anode replacement, and the antifoul repaint allows you to time your bottom repaint to coincide with your two-year survey. You can also reduce your fuel consumption by doing two things. Removing all the old, peeling and delaminated paint, especially where it has built up over the years improves the smoothness and the water flow across the underwater part of the hull. This will help increase the vessel's speed and the hull is more easily driven through the water. Secondly, always apply high-quality long-term performing antifouling to the correct dry film thickness that is guaranteed to yield two full years of fouling-free performance.
Fuel is an expensive item for commercial operators, and a two-year antifouling system will reduce your fuel
A nice clean bum ready for another 24 months
consumption by doing two things. A lot of commercial operators apply a fresh coat of antifoul over the top of existing antifoul and repeat this year-on-year. The antifoul becomes thicker and also delaminates, creating a very rough surface on the hull, causing extra friction and requiring more fuel to maintain engine revs and therefore speed.
The two-year antifoul system can be applied to any
hull, regardless of size, whether it is built of aluminium, steel, timber or GRP, and whether the vessel has a planing or displacement hull. The same principles also apply to both commercial operators and leisure boaties. As a commercial operator you will know your running costs, based on the engine revs required to maintain your optimum cruising speed and your fuel consumption per hour or mile. Your costs can therefore continue to escalate as the antifouling performance deteriorates over time and the bottom paint texture becomes rough. What do we have to do to take advantage of a two-year antifoul system which will reduce your
NZ WORKBOAT REVIEW 2012 79
COMPANY PROFILE
