Ten years ago, Norwegian Cruise Line applied biocide-free Intersleek foul release coatings to the 78,309 GRT Norwegian Sun when it was built in Germany. Ten years later, the Intersleek system has only needed touch-up repairs, significantly reducing overall paint volume, packaging, waste and VOC emissions, according to the company. In addition, because full coats were not necessary, dry-docking time and costs were also significantly reduced.

During Norwegian Sun’s dry dock in the Bahamas in January 2011, it was noted that the Intersleek system had performed well and was in good condition with no animal or weed fouling. “We are very pleased with the performance of the Intersleek system,” said Brian Swensen, senior vice president, technical operations, Norwegian Cruise Line. “At Norwegian Sun’s two interim dry-docks, we only applied a total of 600 liters of Intersleek. For a standard antifouling system, we would have used approximately 6,000 liters. This has resulted in a 90 percent reduction in VOC emissions and a 100 percent reduction in biocide release. The fact that no full coats were required meant that the dockings in 2004 and 2007 were completed ahead of schedule with lower paint and application costs than expected.”

Intersleek has now been applied on more than 500 passenger vessels over the last 15 years, including 100 cruise vessels.