Gothenburg-based I-Tech’s Selektope antifouling system has been shortlisted in the Environmental Performance category by the judging panel for the European Marine Engineering Awards. The winner of this prestigious Award will be announced at the European Marine Engineering Conference and Awards gala dinner in Amsterdam on 13th April 2016.

The Environmental Performance Award, sponsored by DNV GL, is presented to a product, process or management approach that was brought to market for the first time in 2015, or which was significantly improved or relaunched. The Award judges select solutions best able to demonstrate actual, or potential, environmental benefits as a result of implementation.

Philip Chaabane, chief executive, I-Tech, says: “It is a great honour to be shortlisted for this award. It recognises the culmination in 2015 of a ten-year journey to turn a scientific discovery into a commercially-ready, approved and available anti-fouling agent that will generate substantial environmental benefits within the marine industry.”

Introduced to the market last year, Selektope is an organic, non-metal compound, which features an innovative pharmacological mode of action to combat barnacle settlement on ship hulls. This formulation sharply reduces biocide loadings for antifouling coatings and allows Selektope to be highly effective in terms of lowering fuel consumption, and thereby cutting harmful emissions and conserving natural resources, even in minute quantities. Moreover, paints including Selektope repel barnacles even when ships are at rest, allowing any fuel saving claims made by coatings suppliers to cover the ship’s entire operational cycle.

Tests have shown that antifouling products containing Selektope significantly reduce fouling, lowering water resistance, and potentially saving up to 40% in fuel costs. By repelling barnacle attachment, coatings with Selektope also lower the risk of transporting invasive aquatic species from one oceanic region to another.

Initial commercial applications of marine coatings with Selektope, which is now fully approved for use by the relevant authorities in Japan, South Korea, China and Europe, have been made in recent months. The first publically-disclosed project started last November at Sembcorp in Singapore, when a new copper-free product from Chugoku Marine Paints (CMP) was applied to the side walls of the 2010-built, 46,000dwt chemical carrier Calypso operated by Sweden’s Laurin Maritime.

The European Marine Engineering Awards are organised by Riviera Maritime Media. A panel of independent judges, comprising experts in various aspects of marine engineering, have chosen the shortlisted entries for each of the nine awards that will be presented on the night. Over the past few months the public have been able to vote online; public votes, combined with the judge’s selection, will determine the winner.