ULTRASONIC ANTIFOULING
SHIPSONIC
®
Brd. Torp Partrederi ANS                                                                                         Tofte Norway 28.04.2011
 3482 Tofte
Reg. Testing of Shipsonic on Samson 35 feet, steel prawn trawler boat
 The equipment was mounted in September 2010. At the time the boat was very overgrown with algae and with a thick layer of shells on the waterline.
 The plan was to put the boat in dry dock during autumn, but this was not done and the boat has been in the water  ever since.
 After installing Algae-Free (Shipsonic) the growth of algae was clearly reduced and what was already on the hull before installing Shipsonic could loosely and easily be scraped off.
The boat has, in the period from September 2010 till today ,April 2011 , approx. 8 months , only been on short  intermittent  trips. The result as per today is that the hull is clean with no heavy growth of shells and algae on the waterline, and it is only hairy/wolly on the waterline.
 The state of the algae situation under the boat I have no control over , as I have not had the boat in dry dock since the time of installing the equipment. But the speed of the boat compared to the speed of newly released boat confirms the experiences done on the waterline, meaning the growth of algae is reduced /stopped and that the same situation is true under the boat as that of the waterline.
 Based on these experiences and compared to experiences of algae growth under similar conditions without SHIPSONIC this is an extremely effective and environmental way to reduce/stop the problem of algae growth.
 It also needs to be said that the installation of the equipment was simple and easy , and completed in about 30 min.
Per Torp
 Captain on Samson BD 02 H

Samson 35'' tested - June 16th 2011

The boat is tested with a 1st generation 2010 Algae-Free.
The 2nd generation Algae-Free, available from June 2011 is even more powerful.

AlgaeFree, which is tested around the world with outstanding results, has now also been tested in Norway. To put the product to a tough test under the least favorable conditions, Alga-Free was installed in the fall 2010 on the prawn trawler Samson which at the time of installation sported a thick layer of green algae and a substantial layer of roes/shell. The object of the test was to prove that Algae-Free not only keeps clean, newly antifouled boats free of algae, but also removes algae from boats with a thick layer of existing algae growth.

The Prawn Trawler belonging to the company Brd.Torp Partrederi ANS, located at Tofte in Norway had at the time been at see for about 12 months, and has not been in professional use since the installation in August 2010, just been used sporadically. On a short test voyage in March 2011 it was visibly apparent that the cure worked. A thick layer of brown, dead algae and roes floated like a layer of "soup" after the boat when it sailed at 4-6 knots.

 

June 16th 2011 Samson was docked, and the boat was practically completely clean all the way up to the waterline, with the exception of a thin layer of fresh roes in the bow and the front part of the waterline.

The reason for the roes in the bow was twofold: The transducer was installed slightly to much to the back of the hull, and the boat had been without AC power for 2-4 weeks causing Alga-Free to be inactive in this period. At this time of year algae and roes will attach to the hull within a couple of weeks.

 

Present at the time of docking was the boat's owners, Per and Kjell Torp, as well as KGK, the Norwegian distributor of Algae-Free. The results were impressive and far better than what they had expected. The last time the boat was docked the hull was as usual covered in a thick layerof algae, roes and mussels.

The photo to the right shows at practically clean hull, except for some roes at the propeller and on the thickest part at the bottom of the hull, where the ultrasound waves from Algae-Free did not reach.

This explains why Samson's co-owner Kjell Torp, who was captain on the 3 hours trip from Tofte to the dock at Nærsnes was surprised at the speed of the boat after having been 18 months in the water.

 

The photo to the left shows a clear and clean hull as a visible proof that Algae-Free works as intended.

The picture shows as well that if Algae-Free is not allowed to work (as in this case where the ultrasound waves where blocked from reaching certain areas) it also cannot prevent the formation of algae, roes and shell in these areas. The other parts of the hull were in contrast completely clean.

The cooling system consisting of pipes attached to the hull has due to the thickness of these pipes and the fact that they are placed on the outer surface of the hull, given roes the chance to attach and thrive - as they would have don on the entire hull without the use of Algae-Free.

 

The photo to the right shows the transom free of algae, roes and shell. What was left was onsly a thin layer of dead slime which was easy to shower off. The reason for the slime formation is that the boat already had a thick layer of green algae and roes at the time when Algae-Free was installed.

The boat will now be cleaned and coated with antifouling, and with Algae-Free 1st generation, the boat is ready for a new season. 2nd generation Algae-Free is on sale from June 1st 2011. The transducer is more powerful and the number of transmitted frequencies have increased from 3 to 7.
 

 

All photos are taken June 16th 2011 - immediately after docking the boat, and before cleaning the boat's hull.

Considering the boat's condition before installing Algae-Free, we let the pictures speak for themselves and let the reader be the judge of the results

 

Algae-Free is the brandname for the area’s of Scandinavia, New Zealand and Australia.

The Algae-Free products are produced by Globus Benelux -The Netherlands (SHIPSONIC)