The Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS) and the Department of Defence’s Science and Technology Division (DST) have entered a five-year agreement to work together to find answers to the problem of ‘biofouling’ which was affecting all marine industries.
Lead Technology Researcher at AIMS, Melanie Olsen said biofouling was not only a growing problem for large ocean-going vessels, it rendered scientific marine instruments and underwater cameras useless until the accumulation of micro-organisms, plants, algae, or animals on the host surface could be cleaned off.
“Biofouling is a major problem impacting the marine industry in tropical waters, and we aim to establish definitive results from a variety of new technologies to manage the problem,” Miss Olsen said.
“Many antifouling techniques can have a strong chemical base but there is a worldwide movement which is looking for alternatives to ingredients which could be potentially harmful to marine environments.”
She said reducing biofouling also reduced the risk of introducing marine pests to Australian waters on the hulls of ships, so it was also an opportunity to enhance biosecurity.
Chief Defence Scientist, Alex Zelinsky said the research could have far reaching benefits for Defence.
“Biofouling is a major problem for the Royal Australian Navy,” Dr Zelinsky said.
“It accumulates on the hull of ships, increases drag, can block water inlets and adds significantly to Navy’s operational costs.”
“Traditional anti-fouling approaches, such as paints and coatings, have limited application in tropical waters and so we are looking at new approaches, such as the application of UV light, to solve a common problem.”
AIMS is to conduct side-by-side experiments with DST scientists at its facility near Townsville to test how the new technology works over time.
