Biofouling dynamic and its impact on ship powering and dry-docking

• Published in: Ocean engineering 2022-02, Vol.245, p.110522, Article 110522
• Main Authors: Hadžić, Neven, Gatin, Inno, Uroić, Tessa, Ložar, Viktor
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Antifouling protection; Computational fluid dynamics; Ship biofouling; Ship maintenance; Ship resistance; Stochastic modeling
• ISSN: 0029-8018; 1873-5258
• DOI: 10.1016/j.oceaneng.2022.110522

Biofouling of ship hulls is a significant financial burden to shipping companies affecting ship performance and shipping costs through increased fuel consumption and associated maintenance costs. It also induces a serious environmental footprint through increased gas emissions. In addition, the application of antifouling coating harms marine life. It is, therefore, crucial to understand its dynamics enabling more reliable management of the overall ship operation expenses. A new methodology to evaluate the dynamic development of ship biofouling and its effects on ship powering demands and dry-docking costs is presented in this paper. The mathematical model is based on the well-known ITTC-1978 relationships which are uniquely combined with the stochastic modeling approach taking into account the reproductive potential and growth rate of marine organisms. The obtained results are successfully validated in the case of a typical Mediterranean fishing vessel using the full-scale measurements of the hull roughness as well as by the sophisticated computational fluid dynamic model. Such a model is further employed to select the most profitable hull maintenance schedule by taking into account maintenance intensity, fuel costs, maintenance costs, and ship idle costs. The developed approach proved to be efficient and of suitable accuracy equipping ship owners with a powerful support framework applicable in course of the challenging decision-making such as the evaluation of the dry-docking scheduling. •Biofouling dynamics is modelled using stochastic modeling and ITTC relationship.•Biofouling development model validated using full-scale measurement.•Effects of hull roughness on powering requirements are evaluated.•CFD simulations are used to validate the results of the simplified approach.•Effects of hull roughness on dry-docking scheduling are addressed.