Hydrex, Belgium, reports that, working closely with the Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management, it has developed a new method to clean propeller blades underwater.

The company said the method complies with the environmental regulations in Belgium and the Netherlands and, as a result, it has been given permission to clean propeller blades in both countries.

The traditional approach in the propeller maintenance industry is to polish the blades with a grinding disk which can cause damage to the propeller. “By the very fact of using a grinding disk, a substantial amount of metal is removed from the blades. This makes polishing a source of marine pollution which is a problem in ports,” Hydrex said.

It is for this reason that a large number of ports, including those in Belgium and the Netherlands, have banned the underwater cleaning on propeller blades.

Exceptions are only made for those companies that can pass the stringent tests carried out by the concerning authorities.

“Approved propeller blade cleaning is carried out by our divers using underwater equipment developed in-house by our R&D department. This process is fast and easy and has no effect on the underwater environment,” said Hydrex.