Florida headquartered maritime firm Seascour is reenforcing its position as the most environmentally friendly descaler cleaner in the sector by securing two industry accreditations.

Seascour President Kelly Hendry confirmed the innovator has successfully passed a rigorous Environmental Protection Agency  audit to retain the Safer Choice certification for outdoor use. This means Seascour remains the only descaler to meet EPA’s additional safety criteria for products used outdoors. The EPA certification assures users Seascour contains safer ingredients to remove biofouling on heat exchangers, condensers, and water coolers on vessels of all kinds before being discharged into the sea, lakes or rivers. The EPA audit confirmed Seascour’s formula and Good Manufacturing Process to ensure it remains more protective for aquatic life. With the EPA certification Seascour is further officially compliant with the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) for in-water cleaning.

In addition, Seascour has secured partner status with Green Marine the international environmental certification program. Green Marine helps its members like shipyards, ports and ship owners to improve their environmental performance by working with trusted eco-friendly partners like Seascour.

Ms Hendry, Principal Owner of the Gulf Marine shipyard in Tampa, said the descaler market is ripe for cleaning up and disruption.

“We’re delighted to secure these certifications and thank everyone involved in the process,” she said. “This sends a message to the maritime industry that there is a better way. The era of caustic chemical cleaners is coming to an end. Traditionally,  equipment like heat exchangers were taken off the vessel, shipped out and hydro-blasted, cleaned with acids, neutralized, tested and put back in place. Environmental impact aside, this takes time and money, and you shorten the life of the heat exchanger. The efficacy of these methods is maybe 80 to 85% and each time you do it, this gets less. In contrast, Seascour has an efficacy of 90% or greater and enables clean-in-place (CIP) operations, whilst a vessel remains at sea, significantly reducing maintenance time, drydock dependency, and equipment degradation.”

Seascour is part of family-owned Hendry Holdings, which incorporates long-established maritime partner and ship repair specialist, Hendry Marine Industries (HMI).

“Family businesses need to reiterate and reposition themselves every generation or so,” said Ms Hendry. “Seascour represents our commitment to sustainable solutions and increases our footprint in the green marine space.”

“With Seascour a two-day drydock can be replaced by a three-hour flush at sea. That’s not just an environmental gain, it’s a financial game-changer. Seascour is proving you do not have to sacrifice performance to protect the planet, or your vessel.”

Ms Hendry brought Seascour into the wider Hendry Holdings Group in 2023 having spotted the invention created by former US Navy submariner turned chemist Patrick Baymont. She said notable milestones in the last year include seeing Seascour used successfully on a wide range of merchant vessels across the US. She further pointed to extensive testing on a wide variety of vessels in the US Navy, US Coast Guard and NOAA research ships.

“We are now working on the NAVSEA accreditation which will enable Seascour to be used across the US Naval fleet,” she said. “This will be a massive moment for the company and a huge cost saver for naval vessels enabling more afloat time and fewer problems with water cooling systems in places like the Arabian Gulf.”

Ms Hendry warned that traditional descalers contribute to algal blooms  by releasing chemicals like hydrochloric and phosphoric acid. This is particularly a problem in recreational marinas where boaters often flush inorganic descalers directly into the water.

“These blooms are a massive problem across the US and the world,” she said. “They deplete oxygen levels, disrupt marine ecosystems, threaten aquatic life and have led to harbors being closed. Seascour does not contribute to algal blooms due to being organic.”