Biocide-free hull protection against marine fouling - scientific status quo and available products

Within the last three decades Tributy/tin (TBT) antifoulants have been providing shipowners with effective protection against marine fouling for periods of up to five years. The traditional biocidal approach has been reliant upon highly toxic and persistent chemicals raising concerns about the environmental risk of such coatings. Those concerns have led to regulations of the use of organotin and other substances and increasing regulations are expected. These restrictions are key drivers of research efforts to develop effective fouling control coatings with low or negligible environmental impacts. In addition, the EU's biocide product directive has also great significance to put environmentally friendly coatings on the market. It can be assumed that the directive will lead to an essential reduction in the number of biocides. Since most of the globally active paint manufacturers are based in Europe, with joint ventures in Asia, the directive will have a world-wide effect. This paper presents the current alternatives and scientific approaches to control fouling on ship hulls focussing on non-toxic techniques