USA: COIPM Organises International Congress on Marine Corrosion and Fouling

USA: COIPM Organises International Congress on Marine Corrosion and FoulingThe 16th International Congress on Marine Corrosion and Fouling (ICMCF) was held between the 24th and the 28th of June this year at the Conference Center at Convention Place in downtown Seattle, Washington, USA.

The ICMCF is a biennial congress organized on behalf of the Comité International Permanent pour la Recherche sur la Préservation des Matériaux en Milieu Marin (COIPM), an international committee for research into material protection in the marine environment.

Some 300 individuals attended the event which had a very busy and full agenda. Talks were on every imaginable subject with any bearing whatsoever on marine corrosion, biofouling, hull efficiency, antifouling systems, biocides, invasive species, emissions, legislation regarding toxic substances and so on. Some of the talks covered the background and existing solutions or approaches in these various disciplines. Others were descriptions of pure research, new coatings or cleaning equipment under development, environmental matters, reports of experiments and pilot projects.

The Congress Chairman was Steve McElvany of the US Office of Naval Research, an organization responsible for funding a fair proportion of the research described in the various talks and presentation. The 2010-2012 Chair of the COIPM was Geoff Swain. This was his last year as Chair and he handed the baton over to Serena Teo of the National University of Singapore. Since the 2014 ICMCF will be held in Singapore, this is a sensible choice. Geoff Swain himself gave an excellent presentation entitled, “Antifouling coatings: a drydock perspective,” sharing the experience he and his team at the Florida Institute of Technology have had with biocidal and fouling release coatings used on Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines ships in drydock and illustrating the relationship between coating type, coating roughness, biofouling, surface preparation, coating application, drydock capabilities, ship operational schedule and fuel consumption. He showed an enlightening selection of photos of ships with AF and FR coatings in various conditions.

But choosing one or two presentations to describe is futile. There were four plenary talks, 114 presentations and 100 posters shown in two sessions. The subject matter was incredibly wide ranging.

Hydrex was well-represented at the Congress. David Phillips, Communications Executive, Dr. Simon Bray, environmental consultant for Hydrex and Dr. Ilse Steyl, currently on a project for Hydrex to carry out research on sediment contamination were all present for the entire event.

David Phillips gave a presentation entitled, “Eliminating Hull-Borne Aquatic Invasive Species – An Alternative, Practical Approach,” which made a case for a non-biocidal Surface Treated Composite and in-water cleaning as the only environmentally safe technology for preventing the spread of invasive aquatic species. Its blatant anti-biocide approach created something of a stir amongst the proponents of conventional, biocidal coatings.

Dr. Simon Bray presented a poster entitled, “Biocide Antifouling Paints – Benefits vs. Continuing Environmental Costs,” in which he showed clearly the detrimental effects of continued use of biocides such as copper oxides, Diuron, Irgarol and others, on the environment and the food chain.

With the number of presentations and posters which extolled the value and virtues of biocides and the importance of using them and lamented what they considered to be the excessive strictness of legislators and legislation restricting the use of biocides and denying them full rein, the Hydrex presentation and the poster joined with excellent talks from the Port of San Diego’s Karen Holman and Stephanie Bauer, Leigh Johnson and Carolynn Culver of the University of California, Dr. Dan Rittschof of Duke University, and a number of others concerned with the environmental aspects, were important in presenting a balance and showcasing the importance of minimizing the effects of antifouling on the environment.

Perhaps the most entertaining and instructive talk of the entire congress was by Professor Hans-Curt Flemming of the University of Duisburg-Essen entitled, “Biofouling – Unsolved Problems, Insufficient Approaches and Some Light at the Horizon,” in which he reiterated a memorable quote” “KILLING IS NOT CLEANING,” referring specifically to biofouling. His talk was light but incisive and impactful.

Mike Schultz of the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, chaired the session on Ship Hydrodynamics and Energy Efficiency, which included a highly informative presentation by Daniel Kane of Propulsion Dynamics entitled, “Evaluating Hull Fouling on Ship Performance: Underwater Photos in Connection with Speed/Fuel Consumption Analysis.”

These are of course just a handful out of a very large number of presentations, reports and posters which all together made the 16th ICMCF a great success.

The new Chair for 2014 is Serena Teo of the Tropical marine Science Institute at the National University of Singapore who is looking forward to a great gathering of members of the scientific, legislative and industry communities who share an interest in the development of materials and methods for preventing marine corrosion and biofouling.

[mappress]

Press Release, September 02, 2012; Image: hydrex