Radical eco-friendly antifouling set for introduction

by Courtesy IBI News on 12 Jul 2003 SeaLife Marine Products of Culver City, California, is in the advanced stages of releasing a completely non-toxic antifouling coating with high performance claims.

Founder Robert McCaslin, an electronic engineer and inventor by trade, stumbled across the formula for the antifouling completely by accident when its inventing scientist sent him a fax by mistake. Intrigued by the contents of the fax, McCaslin made contact and has now secured worldwide rights to the formula.

The antifouling, 15 years in development, is based upon a very flexible poly acrylic vinyl copolymer composition that is fast to apply with no mandatory launch window. It is solvent-based but has a low volatile organic compounds (VOC) rating of 165g/lt.

The key to SeaLife's environmental claims lie in the fact that copper is employed as the active ingredient but it is bound completely into the non-ablative paint matrix, minimising leaching and acting as a deterent to growth rather than a poison. The coating meets the demands of the IMO, the US EPA and other environmental protection agencies, including stringent regulations in Scandinavia.

McCaslin claims that an application is good for four years use in salt or fresh water without the need for scrubbing, a statement backed by 18 months of testing in a mix of environments on vessels as wide ranging as Grand Banks trawlers, US Navy craft and a Carnival cruise liner.

The product range will be offered in seven colours and several versions: 1000 for pleasure craft, 1000 XP for commercial vessels, 1000 ML for military applications and 1000 Outdrive for aluminium components. All standard forms of application are applicable for use including spraying. Tins will have a two-year shelf life and will be offered in various sizes up to 55 US gal.

The company is in the advanced stages of completing testing and is now on the cusp of signing several key distributor agreements in key world markets. SeaLife Marine Products currently employs four people with a further 11 freelance representatives. McCaslin funded the start-up but the company subsequently went public in December last year. It sub-contracts the manufacture of its products in the US under close supervision.

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