Cunard, the brand operated by Carnival UK, has confirmed significant savings on its flagship liner Queen Mary 2 since converting from a silyl-based TBT-free self-polishing copolymer antifouling in November 2008 to International Paint’s fluoropolymer foul release coating Intersleek 900.

From its own detailed studies on the propulsion efficiency of Queen Mary 2, Cunard has confirmed that since the application of the Intersleek 900 system to the vertical sides, vessel efficiency has improved by over 10 percent.

“Prior to the drydocking, in order to achieve the necessary speeds to meet our demanding schedule, we would need to utilize all four 14.5MW diesel generators and supplement that with our 8MW gas turbine running on gas oil,” said Ronnie Kier, chief engineer of Queen Mary 2. “After the drydocking we only required the four diesel generators, which gave us a direct saving of approximately 36 tons of gas oil per day or around $30,000 per day at today’s prices. What is more important to us is that those initial efficiency improvements have been effectively maintained over the 30 months since application.”

The lower fuel consumption seen on Queen Mary 2 since the application of Intersleek 900 represents a reduction in CO2 emissions of over 50,000 tons – equivalent to taking 16,000 cars off the road for 12 months.