Fincantieri Opts for Cathelco ICCP Systems

Cathelco have won an order to supply hull corrosion protection systems for two cruise ships which are to be built for Viking Ocean Cruises by Fincantieri of Italy. Designed for luxury cruising, the two 47,000 grt ships will have 472 cabins and the capacity to carry 998 passengers. The first vessel is scheduled for completion in early 2015 with the second to follow in early 2016.

Cathelco will be providing forward and aft impressed current cathodic protection (ICCP) systems for both of the ships to safeguard the hulls against corrosion and reduce maintenance costs. The 100 amp forward systems will consist of an arrangement of two C-Max disc anodes mounted port and starboard, together with reference electrodes which are connected to a control panel.

The more powerful, 250 amp aft system will comprise of two C-Max disc anodes and reference electrodes supplied with current from a thyristor control panel.

Although modern hull coatings offer some protection against corrosion, they seldom provide a complete solution. For this reason, most operators combine hull coatings with and impressed current cathodic protection system. The purpose of the system is to ‘neutralise’ the electro-chemical activity which causes corrosion by providing an opposing current. This suppresses corrosion cells which form on the surface of ship’s plates. It also protects against corrosion caused by the proximity of dissimilar metals such as bronze alloy propellers and stainless steel shafts.

The Viking Ocean Cruise ships will be among the first to be installed with C-Max ICCP anodes. The new generation of anodes was introduced last year by Cathelco and have many advantages in terms of performance and ease of installation.

One of the most important advantages is they are diver changeable, allowing them to be replaced when the vessel is at sea, if necessary. During installation they are also considerably lighter and easier to handle than existing anodes with a 125 amp disc anode weighing just 9kg.

In operation, the anodes emit a current which passes over the hull suppressing corrosive activity. The reference electrodes continuously monitor the electrical potential at the hull/seawater interface and send a signal to the control panel which raises or lowers the output to the anodes accordingly. In this way, the hull receives the optimum level of corrosion protection at all times.

Cathelco are world leading manufacturers of ICCP systems for cruise ships, commercial vessels and military craft. In the cruise market, they have supplied systems for vessels operated by Cunard, RCCL, NCL, Disney Cruises and P&O Cruises, to name but a few.

Press Release, March 6, 2013