'Pink Panther' will help protect the climate, the environment and human lives

In Singapore's harbour, a small pink vessel sails among supertankers and container ships up to 400 metres long. The ships have dropped anchor at 'the world's largest petrol station' to refuel. They remain there for 12–16 hours, which is why ECOsubsea's 'Pink Panther' manoeuvres between the giants: while refuelling, the ships can purchase a complete hull cleaning service from the small pink boat. A diver used to spend up to 40 hours cleaning the largest ships, but Pink Panther can do it in four hours! 

This is the Pink Panther's clear competitive advantage, and the technology is Norwegian, patented and unique.

‘Today, 5,000 hull cleanings are purchased in Singapore. What will it take for us to capture the majority of that market? It’s all about efficiency. Then you can sell a cleaning tomorrow,’ says ECOsubsea CFO Ole Christian Troland.

The company grew out of Austevoll's long and proud maritime tradition in Vestland county. When we visit its quayside headquarters, fishing and supply vessels line the harbour. Brothers Tor and Klaus Østervold came up with the idea for the cleaning robot after helping to launch the first robotic solution for cleaning fish-farming nets.

'We contacted several shipping companies and asked whether they were interested in a solution for cleaning hulls while vessels were docked for loading and unloading. They were, so we went full steam ahead,' says CEO Tor Østervold.

We have supported ECOsubsea since it was founded in 2008. In addition to funding through grants and loans, the company has worked closely with several of our international offices, which have provided advisory and the expertise needed to establish operations abroad.

‘Our services aim to support sustainable growth and exports for competitive Norwegian companies. ECOsubsea is a company with world-leading Norwegian climate technology and expertise that delivers significant CO2 reductions. We believe demand for its hull-cleaning services will grow substantially in the years ahead,’ says customer adviser Elise Waage Drivenes at our Vestland office.

Hull cleaning matters. What lies beneath the surface of the sea has a direct impact on the climate, the environment, and health and safety. A dirty hull creates more resistance as the ship sails, increasing fuel consumption and its impact on the climate. Marine growth attached to a hull can spread invasive species around the world, while antifouling paint may contain environmentally harmful substances. Hull cleaning also affects health and safety, as divers currently carry out this work, which is far from risk-free.

‘In 2024 alone, we heard of three diving fatalities in Singapore. We take the diver out of the water, giving them the opportunity to work safely and securely above the surface,’ says Troland.

Since the 1960s, ship hulls have largely been cleaned using the same method: one or more divers go underwater and clean them using simple handheld tools. In addition to the safety risks involved, there is no way to collect the waste produced by the cleaning process. Anything removed from the hull falls straight to the seabed, affecting local biodiversity where the ship is cleaned.

Sea vomit originates from Japan and has now become a major problem in Norwegian waters. The species can grow to eleven times its own size in two weeks.

'Sea vomit means that future generations will not have the same access to prawns, lobsters and crabs as we do. It means our children will experience the seabed in a completely different way from us. If this had been an oil spill, we would have stopped sea vomit long ago,' says Østervold.

A key part of ECOsubsea's solution is therefore to collect all waste from the cleaning process and record it in a database. The company will share this data with manufacturers of antifouling materials and other stakeholders who benefit from knowing what attaches itself to a ship – and why.

Once Pink Panther has finished, the ship can continue its journey with a freshly cleaned hull that glides smoothly through the water, reducing fuel consumption and carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere. ECOsubsea measures everything it does, and now Østervold brings out the hard data to drive the message home: 

• In 2025, ECOsubsea's hull cleaning will cut CO2 emissions by two million tonnes.
• In the coming years, the company will establish Pink Panthers at 20 key locations worldwide.
• The goal is to capture half of the global hull-cleaning market, thereby reducing annual CO2 emissions from fuel consumption by 50 million tonnes. This is slightly more than Norway's total emissions in 2023.

The company has calculated that ships struggling across the world's oceans with dirty hulls emit 100 million tonnes more CO2 than they would with clean hulls.

‘This is twice Norway’s emissions, and it costs the shipping industry $20 billion. What we really have here is a communication problem. The industry needs to understand how much it can save. Customers should see a return on what they have paid for the service within three days,’ says Østervold.

This is Abigail Robinson's job. She moved from New Zealand to Austevoll to lead the work of documenting what the cleaning robots can achieve. In 2024, ECOsubsea collected 24.7 tonnes of biofouling, helping its customers save 68,000 tonnes of fuel and reduce CO2 emissions by 212,000 tonnes. The estimated savings for customers amount to USD 46 million. The algorithm developed by the company shows customers how much they save, with a margin of error of just 0.5 per cent.

'This will help customers quantify the benefits they can achieve through effective hull maintenance. As well as saving money, they reduce the negative impacts of invasive species and greenhouse gas emissions, while protecting local harbour environments from pollution,' says Robinson.

Østervold sees ECOsubsea's work as part of a bigger picture that goes beyond hull cleaning and shipping. He believes it is an initiative that can deliver climate benefits here and now, while the world continues to debate how to transition to a low-emission society.

‘If we can help cut 100 million tonnes of CO2 annually, and it takes ten years for other solutions to be put in place, we will have saved the world one billion tonnes of CO2 in the meantime. Whatever we fail to address here and now will be left for future generations to solve. To date, ECOsubsea has saved four million tonnes of CO2. Imagine if we could save 50 million tonnes every year,’ says Østervold.

The Austevoll-based company is moving forward. With a recently approved NOK 69 million green growth loan from us, alongside private capital, it plans to launch three new Pink Panthers in Singapore this year.