Cathelco (Chesterfield, United Kingdom) recently won orders to supply equipment for cruise and commercial vessels being built in European and Asian shipyards.
Under the orders, impressed current cathodic protection (ICCP) systems will be supplied for a total of five cruise vessels built by Fincantieri (Trieste, Italy) in Italy. One of the systems will be installed on the latest Princess Cruise vessel, which is being purpose-built for the Chinese market with the capacity to accommodate 3,600 guests.
The ICCP system, consisting of an arrangement of hull mounted anodes and reference electrodes wired to a thyristor control panel, will protect the wetted surface of the hull against corrosion. In operation, the reference electrodes measure the electrical potential at the hull/seawater interface and send a signal to the control panel which automatically raises or lowers the output to the anodes. In this way, the hull receives the optimum level of corrosion protection.
Cathelco are also supplying ICCP systems on two cruise ships built for Costa Asia and P&O Cruises Australia (Southampton, United Kingdom). The hulls of both vessels will be protected against corrosion with 200-amp forward systems and 400-amp stern systems.
Meanwhile, Viking Ocean Cruises (Woodland Hills, CA, USA) already has ICCP systems installed on six of its latest ships ordered from Fincantieri. They have now ordered a further two vessels from the Italian builder with ICCP equipment.
In the commercial sector, Cathelco is supplying two types of systems for six bulk carriers being built for Oldendorff Carriers (Lübeck, Germany) at the Hantong Heavy Industries (HHI) (Nantong, Jiangsu, China) shipyard.
Each vessel will be installed with marine growth prevention systems (MGPS) to protect seawater pipework against biofouling, as well as ICCP systems to safeguard the hulls against corrosion.
The MGPS systems consist of copper and aluminum anodes, which are fitted in the seachests and wired to a control panel. In operation, the copper anodes produce ions which flow through the pipework system and create an environment where the larvae of barnacles and mussels do not settle or grow. At the same time, ions from the aluminum anodes create an anti-corrosive layer on the internal pipe surfaces.
The MGPS and ICCP systems will also be installed on four chemical tankers built by HHI for Carl Buttner GmbH (Bremen, Germany).
Meanwhile, the newest Brittany Ferries (Roscoff, France) cruise ferry is to be built at the Flensburger shipyard in Flensburg, Germany. The vessel, named Honfleur, will be installed with an ICCP system to protect the hull against corrosion.
Source: Cathelco, www.cathelco.com.