The road from reactive to proactive biofouling management isn’t just about increasing the number of cleanings. It fundamentally requires a shift in hull performance management.
⏰ In time-based management, cleanings are triggered by a vessel’s operation—for example, cleaning every time it has been idle in West Africa.
📈 In reactive scenarios, increased fuel consumption (or, in the best cases, precise hull resistance calculation) triggers alerts to schedule a cleaning.
👁️ For proactive cleaning, however, you have to dive deeper. You’ll need to be sure of the answers to the following questions:
– Which hull should we clean? Is the coating compatible?
– Where can it be cleaned, taking operations and port regulations into account?
– How should we clean it? Is the cleaning technology compatible?
– And now, what is the perfect cleaning frequency?
Every vessel and route is different. Cleaning times can be gradually optimized through detailed, quality cleaning reports and efficient analysis. The goal is to clean before it’s visibly fouled, while simultaneously caring for the coating.
In an ideal world, hull resistance should never reach a point where you can significantly detect fouling.
What do you think? What are your top tips for facilitating proactive hull cleanings?
Toward Proactive Cleanings
OpenHull 