New robots manage biofouling on hulls

RICHMOND, Vermont — Armach Robotics Inc. aims to deliver a sustainable and scalable solution in managing biofouling for the global shipping industry. Following a successful period of demonstrating the effectiveness of its hull cleaning robots with commercial shipping operators, Armach has released EverClean, a new service delivering clean hulls for ship owners and operators, with the added value of perpetual hull condition monitoring.

Managing biofouling on ships has long been a challenge, Armach said, with associated problems such as vessel scheduling, maintenance, increased hull deterioration and reduced efficiency, affecting commercial interests, as well as the environmental impacts, including higher emissions through drag, and the transportation of invasive species.

Armach has successfully completed its phase of proving the concept of its robotic hull cleaning system with a select number of ship operators.

Due to EverClean's navigation technology, the hull service robot navigates its way over the hull intelligently and, similar to georeferencing, maps the hull condition to its appropriate on-hull location. This ensures the cleaning of each section of the hull without accidental repeat, and this provides ship owners and operators a proven, cost-effective way to ensure a clean hull at all times, with the addition of an accurate hull condition survey after each clean, Armach said.

While cleaning, data are collected, interpreted and communicated back to the Armach via for processing. The company's data-driven analytics deliver actionable hull state intelligence reporting for the term of the service.

04.04.2023