EuropeMaritime CEOOperations

Micanti: Award-winning antifouling

Amsterdam: Last week saw Dutch firm, Micanti, win a prestigious award for its non-toxic antifouling.
Micanti has designed a 100% environmentally friendly antifouling foil. Its working is based on small fibers, which make it very unattractive for organisms to attach to the hull of a ship.
For this innovation, Micanti was awarded an SME Innovation Top 100 accolade from the Chamber of Commerce. The SME Innovation Top 100 is the biggest and most prestigious innovation award of The Netherlands.
The so-called Thorn-D foil was developed by Dr Ir Rik Breur. The millions of tiny fibers or hairs on the foil are resilient and vibrate constantly by the water movement. This combination of prickliness and swaying of the fibers makes the surface unattractive for organisms to settle.  The nylon fibers are similar to the spiky hairs that organisms have to combat fouling.
Eric Pieters, co-owner of Micanti (pictured, centre), notes: “We believe Thorn-D can have a huge impact in the market since it is a game changing technology which solves the current fouling issues. Thorn-D performs while moored and while sailing for at least five years and saves fuel for the vessel owners.”
He says Micanti is now developing new products based on Thorn-D, but he will not divulge the nature of the new products just yet. [23/06/14]

Splash

Splash is Asia Shipping Media’s flagship title offering timely, informed and global news from the maritime industry 24/7.
Back to top button