Facilitating greener education and cleaner shipping through the development of Novel bespoke micro textured metals to combat bioFOULing in niche areas on vessels

Biofouling, the unwanted biological growth on ships, causes increase of fuel costs, emissions, corrosion and transfers non-native invasive species. With updated international regulations not only were biofouling guidelines improved but training for maritime personal and students has become essential. Our aim in the IAMU and Nippon Foundation funded project NOFOUL was to determine the antifouling efficacy of novel textures and plasma in different marine environments (Irish Sea, Black Sea, Marmara Sea, Bay of Bengal) while we engage with knowledge exchange between project partners (LJMU, CMU, ITU, ODU, AMET) and outside the project with our IAMU Biofouling Network. We used our research in the project as a tool for our case study demonstrating training and knowledge transfer in biofouling and antifouling. The first step was a 2-day workshop at LJMU during which LJMU used an interactive approach containing short lectures, discussions, laboratory visits and practical as well as a field trip to gauge the average understanding, to deepen the topic and exchange knowledge between all partners. The second step was site specific training by LJMU at the partner sites. During the one to one training partners were able to prepare for their field experiment to a common standard in order to compare research results and interpret in the context within the project. The outcomes of the training and knowledge exchange between partners in biofouling and antifouling were evaluated and interpreted with a view of expanding the approach for the wider IAMU community.