MGPS - Marine Growth Preventive System. A Revolution in the making

Ships while sailing use seawater for several purposes. The seawater is used in the ship’s system and discharged after the use. However, seawater contains several marine organisms which enter the ship along with the seawater and deposit and flourish on the parts of the ship’s system. If preventive measures are not taken, the marine growth can cause damage to the particular part in the long run. In this article we will learn about the causes and effects of marine growth in a ship’s system along with the measures to fight it.

What Causes Marine Growth?

Sea water contains both macro and micro marine organisms such as sea worm, molluscs, barnacles, algae, hard shells like acorn barnades etc. These organisms stick to the surface of the ship and flourish over there, resulting in marine growth.

Marine fouling can form huge clusters of marine growth inside the piping system of the ship. This is mainly caused because of the entering of the seawater into the seawater system. The organisms find the perfect spot inside the system wherein the environmental conditions and other relevant factors such as temperature, ph, nutrients etc are appropriate for them to breed and disseminate.

Effects of Marine Growth

As the marine organisms flourish they block and narrow the passage of cooling water in the ship’s system resulting in the following factors:

- Impairing the heat transfer system.

- Overheating of several water-cooled machineries.

- Increase in the rate of corrosion and thinning of pipes.

- Reduced efficiency which can lead to loss of vessel speed and loss of time.

Fighting Marine Growth

To avoid formation of marine growth MGPS or marine growth preventive system is used onboard ship. Description and working of MGPS is as follows.

Basic principle on which MGPS runs is electrolysis. The process involves usage of copper, aluminum and ferrous anodes. The anodes are normally fixed in pairs in the main sea chest or in such place where they are in the direction of the flow of water.

The system consists of a control unit which supplies impressed current to anodes and monitors the same. While in operation, the copper anode produces ions, which are carried away by water into the piping and machinery system. Concentration of copper in the solution is less then 2 parts per billion but enough to prevent marine life from settling.

Due to the impressed current, the aluminum/ferrous anode produces ions, which spread over the system and produce a anti corrosive film over the pipes, heat exchanger, valves, refrigeration and ac unit etc, internally.

MGPS anodes are fitted with specially designed safety cap which helps in removing the anode for replacement on board ship. Normally MGPS have a design life which coincides with the dry dock of the vessel.

The Job of a Maritime Consultant ! Can Naval Architects shine in this field?

Maritime consultants are professionals who have the technical expertise to advice and suggest better trade routes and address other necessary shipping concerns to individuals and corporations engaged in the maritime sector to help them boost, advance and further their business positively.

Another important reason that maritime consultants play a very vital role in channelizing today’s shipping industry concerns is because of the various detrimental issues that have cropped up in the field of marine commercialization and marine ecosystem. Maritime consultants can, once again address these concerns by taking matters into their hands and advice the business sector about the dos and don’ts that need to be monitored and taken care of.

In today’s times, the profession of a maritime consultant has become majorly asking. Since the job entails providing expertise, it involves detailed studying and analysis of the concerned issue from the perspective of not only the concerned party but also from the perspective of the environment and any other factors which could cause a debilitating turn to the concerned issue.

Academic Requirements

In terms of educational qualifications, while there are no specific qualifications required to be a maritime consultant, there are quite a few other requirements that good and effective maritime consultants should possess. The main thing that is required is experience, because more the experience maritime consultants have the quality of their services as highly instrumental professionals will be more. Additionally, in terms of experience it would be better if a maritime consultant possesses experience not just pertaining to his native country or region but also of many nations across the world. This feature is important in the profession of maritime consultants because wider is the knowledge background of a maritime consultant, the more reliable his services will be perceived to be. Moreover, since shipping is such a business activity which encompasses oceans and seas which are spread across the globe, it is but natural that the shipping business tends to be a multinational event. And as such, it will be in the interest of maritime consultants if they have experience to deal with not just one country, but innumerable ones.

Also, when it comes to experience about many countries, it becomes equally important for maritime consultants to be fluent in multiple languages apart from English. It is a known fact that, while English is the universal denominator when it comes to languages, there are many nations and people who are not comfortable with speaking English. Therefore, it would be beneficial for maritime consultants if they are able to converse well in such regional languages and reduce the discomfort of the people, thereby garnering more appreciation for their services and expertise – not just in terms of their work and profession, but also in terms of their ease and comfort with many languages.

Conclusion

The profession of maritime consultants is unique because it caters extensively to the shipping industry with no other fields overlapping its scope and ambit. A maritime consultant needs to have the necessary patience and steadfastness to execute his job in a manner befitting the title allotted to his profession. Because, if maritime consultants falter or make a mistake, it could be that the error could be a minor one or it could be that the error is a major one. In the case of the former, rectification is possible but in the case of the latter, the aspect of rectification will be far too late. Therefore, it’s the responsibility of maritime consultants to provide the best possible advices and solutions so as to preserve not just the survival of the shipping industry but also of the ecosystem on which the industry solely depends on. The Naval Architect because of his technical expertise in the designing of ships for various market conditions, can hopefully give a go for this. However, he should not restrict his field to Naval Architecture alone, but alongside broaden his horizons to look into all aspects of the shipping sector. A professional qualification in management is an added benefit.