Subsea Industries

Subsea Industries was founded by Boud Van Rompay in 1983 with a simple and clear goal: clean rivers, seas and oceans.

In his work in Subsea Industries’ sister company, Hydrex, Boud had uncovered the true state of pollution of the sediment and water columns around the world. He traced much of the polluted state of these waters to the toxic antifouling paint used on ships. These contain copper, zinc and other heavy metals as well as other biocides such as pesticides and herbicides.

Subsea Industries began with designing and producing a line of high quality, effective underwater hull and propeller cleaning equipment designed to cover every underwater cleaning need.

But it soon became obvious that cleaning the hulls of ships coated with toxic paint was simply adding to the already existing pollution of the sediment and that what was needed was a hull coating system that was completely non-toxic. Because a non-toxic coating would accumulate fouling, cleaning was part of the formula.

In 1993 research begun on developing a new, long-lasting, non-toxic method of protecting ship hulls. Three years after the final development of Ecospeed, the system was launched commercially in 2002. Ecospeed is an environmentally safe underwater hull coating system that improves a ship’s performance and provides it with longterm protection. It consists of a unique, entirely original and thoroughly proven system that combines the advantages of an easy-to-apply superior coating, a surface treatment for hydrodynamic optimization and a long term underwater maintenance service system. The coating protects the hull for the service life of the ship without need for recoating or major repair and comes with a ten or twenty year guarantee. Several other coatings followed, each designed to solve a specific problem as you can read below.

Ecospeed – Hull Protection and Performance

Ecospeed is a hull coating system which provides long-lasting, non-toxic protection for all ship hulls. The hull is kept very smooth and free of fouling for the service life of the vessel. It requires minimal repair and no replacement. Correct use of the system results in major fuel savings compared to conventional coating systems.

Instead of using chemicals to try to kill and repel marine fouling organisms, Ecospeed uses a hard coating along with manual or mechanical removal of fouling at an early stage.

Ecoshield – Rudder and Running Gear Protection

Rudders, Kort nozzles, thruster tunnels and other running gear of a ship are susceptible to the devastating damage that can be caused by cavitation and corrosion. We have developed a coating that forms an impenetrable barrier to the forces of cavitation, erosion and corrosion.

This coating system has the ability to entirely isolate and insulate the steel or other substrate from the forces that cause so much damage. It simply stops them dead so that the substrate cannot be reached, let alone damaged. This method results in permanent protection, avoiding the need to replace the coating throughout the vessel’s lifetime.

Ecolock – Long-term Offshore Protection

Offshore units such as FPSOs, FSOs, FLRSUs, floating offshore wind turbines and the like need to stay out of drydock for 15, 25 even 40 years. The challenge has been to protect the underwater hull from corrosion for that time. Also to provide a cleanable surface so that the biofouling that accumulates can be safely removed to reduce weight and for class inspection.

Ecolock, designed specifically to protect offshore vessels for decades without the need for drydocking, is the answer to that challenge.

Underwater Cleaning Equipment

Our range of Typhoon cleaning machines is available for various applications: from propellers on small pleasure boats up to the hulls of 400 meter container ships or large offshore platforms. All types of fouling can be removed very effectively: light slime as well as very thick layers of heavy marine growth.

Our cleaning units can be used effortlessly and safely for extended periods of time. They are easy to maneuver and will help you clean all niche areas. All units are offered separately or with a complete support system including umbilical, tools and hydraulic power unit.