The aim of the eSHaRk project is to finalise the development of an innovative new fouling protection system for commercial vessels, and to accelerate its market entry. Fouling, defined as the settlement and growth of marine plants and animals on submerged structures, is a constant challenge for the shipping industry. Fouling results in higher hydrodynamic drag of vessels, which in turn translates into higher fuel usage and greenhouse gas emissions. A number of fouling protection technologies exist on the market, the most widely used being paint-based anti-fouling and fouling release coatings. However, these existing solutions face a number of challenges concerning their environmental impact, the efficiency of their application on ship hulls, and their effectiveness in protecting vessels against fouling. The eSHaRk project aims to bring a new and innovative solution to the market, which will lead to a paradigm shift in the fouling protection business. This solution is based on self-adhesive foil technology, which not only maintains the current state-of-the-art fouling protection standards but is superior to existing paint-based solutions in terms of eco-friendliness, easiness of application, robustness, and drag reduction effects leading to fuel savings and reduction of GHG emissions. As part of the eSHaRk project, the surface morphology of the foil will be optimised to enhance its drag reduction, fuel savings and emissions reduction benefits. In addition, a robotised laminator will be finalised to apply the foil on large commercial vessels in an automated way. A cruise vessel will be equipped with the foil to ensure full-scale testing and validation in operational conditions before market entry. The technology will then be ready for commercialisation immediately after project end, in late 2018.

The overall goal of AIRCOAT is to make European waterborne transport more energy efficient and less polluting by developing a disruptive hull coating that reduces the frictional resistance of ships. The AIRCOAT project will enhance a passive air lubrication technology that utilises the biomimetic Salvinia effect. This effect enables trapping air through combination of a hydrophobic micro-structured surface with hydrophilic pins. The project will technologically implement this effect on a self-adhesive foil system. Applying a ship with such an AIRCOAT foil will produce a thin permanent air layer, which reduces the overall frictional resistance while acting as a physical barrier between water and hull surface. Besides substantially reducing main engine fuel oil consumption and hence exhaust gas emission, the air barrier further inhibits the attachment of fouling, the release of biocide substances (of underlying coatings) to the water and mitigates the radiation of ship noise. As a refit technology, it is immediately applicable to the whole fleet, is independent of the fuel type and can be combined with other efficiency improving technologies. Consequently, the technology creates both an economical and an environmental benefit. The interdisciplinary AIRCOAT consortium will develop small-scale prototypes to optimise the surface characteristics of this new technology supported by experimental and numerical methods. AIRCOAT will further produce large-scale pilots to demonstrate the efficiency and industrial feasibility in operational environments (laboratory, research ships and container ship). Finally, the project will perform a full-scale validation process to boost the technology towards market readiness. The AIRCOAT project will demonstrate the high potential of this game-changing technology to revolutionise the maritime coating sector and to become a ground-breaking future energy efficiency and emission reduction technology.