Corrosion and Fouling

Corrosion is too often an underestimated threat to the economy in general, and to the maritime sector in particular. In the Western world, the cost of corrosion is enormous. According to a DNV-GL report, the overall cost of corrosion exceeds more than 500 billion EUR for the European region alone, representing approximately 3.8% of the European GDP. These costs are spread across multiple sectors, including the maritime sector, ports, water treatment plants, steam production, and offshore renewable energy production. Specifically for the maritime industry, this cost is estimated at more than 19%.  

Fouling on ship hulls is also an expensive business. The costs incurred by the U.S. Navy alone have been estimated at USD 1–2 billion over the last 15 years, primarily due to increased fuel consumption, as well as the expenses associated with hull cleaning, paint removal, recoating, and maintenance. Fouling also has significant ecological consequences: each additional ton of heavy fuel oil consumed on board results in an effective increase of 3.3 tons of CO2 emissions in the ship. For a fuel consumption of 300 tons per day (for example, by a container ship), a 15% reduction in consumption leads to an emission reduction of 150 tons of CO2 per day. 

In recent years, the team has carried out various projects relating to corrosion in the maritime sector. Their research has included, amongst other things, the correct application of anti-corrosion coatings on ballast tanks and ship hulls, the effectiveness of commercial paints, and the corrosion rate of maritime structures, such as sheet piles, ballast tanks and shipwrecks. These projects always involve close cooperation with the maritime sector (e.g. shipping companies, dredging companies, the ports of Antwerp-Bruges and Ostend, paint manufacturers, etc.) in order to guarantee the relevance of the research for the sector, while for methodological and technical aspects, an academic network has been developed.