A SIX-MONTH trial of Australia’s first commercial in‑water hull‑cleaning pilot at Fremantle has encouraged Australian-owned underwater sustainment and biofouling management company Franmarine to spread its wings nationally and internationally.
CEO Adam Falconer‑West told Daily Cargo News the first six months' results were encouraging, with the company now preparing for expansion into additional jurisdictions as regulatory momentum builds.
The three‑year pilot, run with Fremantle Ports and reviewed annually, is the only arrangement in Australia that permits commercial vessels to be cleaned in port waters under controlled conditions.
Mr Falconer‑West said the first six months have been “positive”, with the program now being treated by federal regulators as a national model.
“This has been validated by the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries as a model that can be replicated out into other jurisdictions and port authorities,” he said.
Franmarine is already operational in Western Australia and New South Wales, where it works in Commonwealth waters supporting the Royal Australian Navy and allied forces. Expansion into state waters on the east coast will be guided by the results of the Fremantle pilot.
“The extension from Commonwealth waters interstate will be supported by the work we’re doing in WA,” Mr Falconer‑West said.
The company is also participating in IMO regional workshops as the organisation moves toward global biofouling management requirements. Franmarine teams have recently travelled to Ecuador, Sri Lanka, and are now heading to South Africa, sharing Australia’s experience with stringent in‑water cleaning standards.
“Australia has the highest or most stringent biosecurity and in‑water cleaning standards in the world,” Mr Falconer‑West said. “We’re demonstrating that this is done in an environmentally sustainable manner.”
The Fremantle pilot allows Franmarine to clean hulls, running gear and niche areas alongside the berth, with all removed material captured at the cleaning head, filtered to 10 microns and UV‑treated before discharge. O2 Marine independently assessed the system against Commonwealth guidelines before the agreement was signed.
Mr Falconer‑West said the company now has more than 100 vessels on its proprietary MarineStream platform. The technology holds the vessels biofouling management plans and digital workflows for biofouling tasks that are automatically embedded into the biofouling record booklet, streamlining the compliance verification process.
“We’ve integrated this software platform with our underwater inspection and cleaning hardware … it’s that data that we’re sharing with the regulators,” he said.
The CEO believes the Fremantle model can be replicated nationally and around the world.
“If it keeps going the way it is, other ports can do the same.”
Svitzer Australia has joined the pilot as an industry partner, with DPIRD providing biosecurity oversight and Fremantle Ports coordinating operations.