Diver-less hull cleaning for Belgian ports

Fleet Cleaner has designed a unique hull cleaning robot which uses high pressure waterjets to remove biofouling from the ship’s hull during loading and unloading in port, resulting in significant fuel savings for shipping companies. The robot captures the removed fouling and pumps it to a containerized wastewater treatment system on board the support vessel. The full operation is conducted without divers, and the robot is controlled from the support vessel.

The test trials were executed in Ghent and Antwerp, where multiple samples have been taken of the water around the robot, the collected wastewater and the filtered water which was released back in port. These were analysed by an independent laboratory, and results have confirmed the high efficiency of the waste capturing system and the wastewater treatment system, as well as the minimal impact to the environment of the entire cleaning operation. The wastewater is filtered down to 1 micron and then released back into port. The captured waste is collected in big bags and disposed of onshore by a certified waste processor.

With this permission from the authorities, Fleet Cleaner now offer its services 24/7 in the entire ARAG region.

By Jake Frith