THE Royal Navy survey ship HMS Scott has left dry dock with a new environmentally friendly paint on her keel which can save thousands of pounds on fuel.

HMS Scott is the Royal Navy’s deep ocean survey vessel capable of surveying the deepest oceans in continuous lines of up to 400 miles in length.

The coating is a fouling-release material which prevents organisms like barnacles from clinging to the hull.

These organisms create drag on the hull causing it to use more fuel in order to maintain speed.

It is also more environmentally friendly because it does not contain any biocides which would do harm to the organisms, but rather it provides a surface too slick for them to stick to when the ship is travelling at higher speeds. Vessels consume an average of nearly 10% less fuel with similar foul-release coating.

In addition to saving fuel, the decreased levels of greenhouse gasses produced by the main engines, such as carbon dioxide, sulphur dioxide, and nitrous oxide, will also make the ship more environmentally friendly.

In environmental terms, that’s thousands of kilograms of greenhouse gasses, avoided each year and because HMS Scott is an open-ocean vessel which runs at survey speeds for months at a time, this could mean a potential cost savings of over £200K per year.