Deep-sea fouling of paint coatings in Barents Sea waters

• P.Yu. Masich¹, M.A. Badmayev¹, A.G. Volkov¹, D.V. Ovchinnikov¹, V.A. Karpov², A.S. Shutova² and Yu.L. Kovalchuk²

¹ “Kometa” corporation, Velozavodskaya str., 5, 115280 Moscow, Russian Federation
² A.N. Severtsov Institute of ecology and evolution of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Leninsky prosp. 33, 119071 Moscow, Russian Federation

Abstract: The fouling of objects immersed in seawater has been studied well enough for shallow depths but there is very little information about fouling at depths of more than 50 meters. In this work, the inhibition effect of a number of antifouling coatings against marine fouling was studied for the first time. The tests were carried out in the Barents Sea at 60 m depth for 15 months. The test specimens with coating systems based on KhV-5286S, “Skat”, and AK-5264 enamels and SKU-PFL-100 polyurethane were immersed in the sea in special cassette holders. The degree of fouling was estimated visually on a five-point scale using a stencil. The species composition of fouling organisms was studied using an MBS-10 binocular. The results on the coating efficiency after 5 months of exposure of samples in the sea at depth were confirmed after 15 months of exposure: the KhV-5286S and SKU-PFL-100 coatings have very weak marine fouling inhibition effect (the score was from 1 to 3 points); the “Skat” coating showed a moderate marine fouling inhibition effect (4–5 points), while the AK-5264 coating demonstrated a strong inhibition effect (5 points). Single foraminifera and juvenile forms of Heteranomia squamula deposited on the horizontal surface together with detritus did not reach adult forms and died under the action of biocide in the larval stage. The total number of fouling organisms after 15 months of exposure in the sea on the KhV-5286S and SKU-PFL-100 coatings increased 8.3- and 28.0-fold, respectively, as compared to 5 months of testing. The following fouling organisms were detected after exposure of coating samples at depth: Heteranomia squamula; Bryozoa – Disporella hispida and Tubulipora flabellaris; Spirorbidae – Circeis spirillum and Circeis armoricana; polychaetes of the Serpulidae family, Spirorbis spirorbis; Foraminifera; Balanus; Mytilus edulis; Cnidaria, Hydrozoa, Hydroidea; Spongia; Nereimyra aphroditoides. The dry fouling biomass on inefficient coatings reached 60 g/m² and the maximum planting density was 9–11 organisms/cm².

Keywords: deep-sea marine fouling, fouling inhibition, antifouling coatings, marine organisms, paint materials

Int. J. Corros. Scale Inhib., 2024, 13, no. 3, 1851-1865
doi: 10.17675/2305-6894-2024-13-3-29

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