Nippon Paint Marine applied its AQUATERRAS coating to AIDA Cruises’ AIDAdiva during its Q1 drydock, providing biocide-free underwater hull protection. This environmentally conscious solution marks a significant advancement in marine coating technology.
‘Unlike most of the world’s underwater coating systems, AQUATERRAS contains neither heavy metal nor biocides,’ John Drew, director, Nippon Paint Marine Europe told Seatrade Cruise. ‘The reduction of these components in AQUATERRAS, in addition to its proven ability to keep a ship clean, minimises the ship’s impact on the marine environment.’
The application on AIDAdiva represents the 16th vessel in Carnival Corporation’s fleet to receive Nippon’s biocide-free coating. When applied in 2022, they witnessed impressive results. Upon arrival at Chantier Naval Shipyard in Marseille, inspectors found the vertical bottom completely free of fouling, despite operating for three years without underwater cleaning.
‘It is very unusual for ships to be kept so clean during a period in active operation,’ Drew emphasised. ‘Between 2022 and 2025, AIDAdiva operated on challenging itineraries including the Caribbean and the Mediterranean, as well as cruising in the Baltic Sea.’
Drew explained, ‘Cruise operators often have to carry out an element of hull cleaning or grooming during a vessel’s operation in order to reduce the resistance caused by slime, weed and other fouling… [but] the coating’s outstanding performance eliminated the need to carry out any in-service cleaning.’
Photos taken upon arrival in dock revealed only light slime on the bulbous bow, confirming the coating’s effectiveness.
During the pandemic, vessels treated with AQUATERRAS maintained cleaner hulls compared to others, even after 18-20 months of minimal operation.
‘Due to the fact that antifouling paints are generally designed to work with a certain amount of activity, the cruise fleet quickly started to develop fouling, which was only possible to remove when in dry-dock,’ the director noted. ‘Fortunately, prior to the pandemic, having seen the benefit of biocide free technology, Carnival Corporation had applied two ships fully with AQUATERRAS. Those two ships exhibited a distinct lack of biofouling, despite one of the vessels being laid up just off Freeport in the Bahamas, in tropical water that is notorious for active fouling… It provides such excellent resistance to fouling that Carnival felt confident to apply it to 18 more ships in the post-pandemic era, when ships have been operating normally again.’
According to Carnival Maritime, AQUATERRAS’s protection against biofouling has reduced the vessel’s environmental footprint by lowering emissions and decreasing power requirements.
‘Effective biocide-free underwater coatings are a key clean technology that support the shipping industry in meeting decarbonisation targets and ensuring that ship owners remain compliant amidst increasing and more stringent environmental regulations,’ commented Drew. ‘Coatings, such as AQUATERRAS, that are proven to keep the ship’s hull clean, contribute to reducing an owner’s emissions and fuel-consumption and support key operational priorities of our customers… The coating’s performance frees ship owners and operators from the need to plan regular cleaning operations, whilst also reducing their impact on the environment.’
Regarding application, Drew remarked, ‘Painting the underwater areas of a cruise ship to the standards carried out on AIDAdiva – in both Marseille (in 2025) and in Bremerhaven (in 2022) – requires meticulous planning and execution. The surface of the hull needs to be prepared carefully and the paint needs to be applied accurately.’
He concluded: ‘Nippon Paint Marine’s AQUATERRAS is a simple coating system to apply. It does not require multi-component application or specialist spray equipment and it can be applied in any yard that can accommodate large cruise ships. Currently, we have AQUATERRAS applications taking place in Europe and in other key locations around the world. Nippon Paint Marine also provides a technical service team to support our customers whenever and wherever AQUATERRAS is being applied.’
The original version of this article appeared in the June edition of Seatrade Cruise Review here: https://cloud.3dissue.com/176015/176412/205860/SCRJUN250625/index.html”
