Greenhouse gas emissions reduction potential by using antifouling coatings in a maritime transport industry

Abstract There are many measures for decarbonisation of maritime transport, however only a few of such measures have been applied in practice. The method for the assessment of the potential energy savings due to the application of antifouling coatings with lower roughness in terms of decrease in fuel consumption and consequently greenhouse emission is proposed within this paper. Using the proposed method, detailed analysis of the potential benefits of the application of antifouling coatings with lower roughness in terms of fuel savings and greenhouse emission reduction is performed for the first time. In addition, an economic analysis related to the implementation of this technical energy-saving measure is carried out. This study quantifies the fuel savings and carbon dioxide emission reduction that can be attained by applying antifouling coatings with lower roughness on the example of crude oil and bulk carriers. The results have shown that 138 t of fuel can be saved per route with a decrease in carbon dioxide emission up to 430 t for the investigated crude oil carrier. Furthermore, 20.4 t of fuel can be saved per route with a decrease in carbon dioxide emission up to 63.6 t for the investigated bulk carrier. In addition, the return on investment related to the application of antifouling coatings with lower roughness varied approximately from 1.5 to 3 years, which is lower than the usual dry-dock period. Based on these findings, it has been shown that antifouling coatings with lower roughness can be applied even for ships sailing at a lower speed, and that notable savings in fuel consumption and carbon dioxide emission can be attained.