Hydrex announces Ecoshield keeps on protecting rudders for their entire service life Monday
In september the rudders of six container ships were coated at shipyards in China and the United Kingdom with Ecoshield, the new special rudder coating. The vessels belong to different owners, both returning customers and new ones. More and more shipowners, operators and technical superintendents are finding that Ecoshield is the ultimate solution when it comes to protecting a rudder from cavitation damage.
Cavitation erosion damage had appeared on the rudders of these vessels. The owners therefore decided to use Ecoshield because this will prevent similar damage from occurring again.
The coating provides the rudder with an impenetrable protective layer. At the same time its toughness and flexibility enables absorption of the forces that are produced by cavitation. This prevents the damage normally caused by this phenomenon. Without proper protection against cavitation and the resulting erosion and corrosion damage, the financial consequences can be severe.
Ecoshield is guaranteed for ten years. With an Ecoshield application no repaint will be needed during drydocking. At most, minor touch-ups will be required. Planning the maintenance of the vessel's stern area therefore becomes much easier. The smoothness attained by the coating also provides optimum hydrodynamic conditions. This allows rudders to operate at maximum efficiency. The ship's performance therefore remains stable and the owner's investment is secured.
Ecoshield is also ideally suited for other areas prone to cavitation erosion or other damage, such as propeller nozzles, thruster tunnels, the bulbous bow or stabilizer fins. For this reason several of the container vessels had Ecoshield applied to their thruster tunnels.
Thanks to the Ecoshield application, these areas will be safeguarded together with the rudders for the remainder of the vessels' service life.
