ECOsubsea was founded with the aim of solving this problem and by setting out to make a difference to operating costs as well as environmental protection, it has quickly found acceptance. The ECOsubsea solution is a remotely operated vehicle which removes the need for divers and uses a newly-developed high pressure water cleaning principle called ‘soft jets’, which is gentler on the hull than mechanical cleaning. The process provides an accurate inspection of the hull condition and cleaning progress can be monitored by cameras. In addition to minimising damage to the coatings its ability to act as a vacuum cleaner, locking on to the hull so that the waste water is pumped back to a collection tank. No waste is released to the local environment and the residue has application as biomass fertilizer. Before founding the company, brothers Klaus and Tor Østervold had worked on fishing vessels and were part of a project working on the cleaning of fish farming nets using mini submarines. Both experiences demonstrated the need for a means of hull cleaning that was safe, environmentally-friendly and did not damage the coating. Having developed the concept, they spent three months researching fouling-related emissions and potential fuel savings. The results were interesting enough to attract the funding that would help them realise a solution to keep a hull performance optimised.
“We have been lucky to have friends, family and fans as well as investors including Innovation Norway and Nordea that understood the opportunity right from the start,” says Tor. “Equally important was to have customers that have been demanding but who trusted us to come up with solutions.”
-ShipEfficiency Review
