Selektope® shortlisted for GREEN4SEA Technology Award

Gothenburg-based I-Tech, the inventor and supplier of the pioneering anti-fouling agent Selektope®, has announced that the technology has been shortlisted for the 2017 GREEN4SEA Awards in the category recognizing technological achievement, breakthrough or significant contribution to the maritime environment.

Now in their second year, the GREEN4SEA awards have already won a place in the maritime calendar by basing their appreciation of environmental excellence and sustainable shipping on a public, online vote hosted on the GREEN4SEA website. This year’s winners will be announced during a welcome reception and award ceremony on the evening of April 4 2017, ahead of the GREEN4SEA Conference, in Athens.

“Last year was a breakthrough year for Selektope®, whose contribution to added performance in anti-fouling coatings gained increased recognition due to its ability to save costs through both reducing fuel and hull cleaning requirements, in addition to offering unrivalled static fouling prevention performance,” said Philip Chaabane, CEO, I-Tech.

“Making the GREEN4SEA shortlist is an important acknowledgement that this unique, bio-repellent active agent that is fully approved for use in the EU and Asia has established a recognized position in the shipping market.”

Selektope® is an organic, non-metal compound whose pharmacological mode of action works to combat barnacle settlement by temporarily stimulating the swimming action in barnacle larvae, deterring them from attaching to a ship’s hull. It delivers powerful effect using only a few grams per liter of paint, optimizing hull performance while sharply reducing biocide loadings.

Tests have shown that anti-fouling products containing Selektope® offer superior hard fouling protection, resulting in lower water resistance and decreased fuel consumption, in addition to lower maintenance costs. Selektope® repels barnacles even when ships are idle, allowing fuel saving claims made by coatings suppliers to cover the ship’s entire operational cycle.

Approved by Japanese, Korean, Chinese and European regulatory bodies progressively through 2014 and 2015, Selektope® has been used in a series of newbuilding and over-coating projects. The first branded marine coating products to feature Selektope® were launched by Chugoku Marine Paints, Ltd. (CMP) in 2016. CMP’s new generation ‘SEAFLO NEO’ range of anti-fouling products make the Selektope® solution available as a high-performance product for mainstream operations, under two separate brands: SEAFLO NEO CF PREMIUM; and SEAFLO NEO-S PREMIUM.

“It is deeply satisfying that Selektope® has picked up in 2017 where it left off in 2016 by gaining recognition through the maritime industry’s excellence awards,” says Chaabane. “We are honored to join such a prestigious shortlist and look forward to the industry vote with considerable excitement.”