Boud Van Rompay

The ceremony took place  at  the  Cammell  Laird Shipyard in Birkenhead. This new polar research ship is designed to keep  Britain  at  the  forefront  of world-leading  scientific  research in Antarctica and the Arctic. RRS Sir David Attenborough has  hull protected by the same Ecospeed coating  that  has  protected  RRS Ernest  Shackleton and RRS  James Clark Ross, for many years.

According to the organizers the panel of independent judges consisting of leading Arctic specialists gave the award to “the company or individual that has developed the most innovative new technology, environmental practice or service to benefit the Arctic region.”

Hydrex won the award for Belgium for its Propeller Buffing project.

Ecolast is UltraViolet (UV) resistant and preserves its color while at the same time offering the corrosion and abrasion protection our coatings are known for. Ecolast is highly resistant against salt, ultraviolet radiation, waves or even ice. Mechanical damage to the coated surface is minimized. This is especially important for (semi-)submerged structures like wind turbines that are located in splash or tidal zones.

Ecolock is an extremely tough and durable coating designed to remain in excellent condition for 15 - 25 years without drydocking, repair or replacement. Ecolock can be cleaned underwater as often as needed to meet the UWILD and weight requirements of FPSOs, drill ships and other offshore vessels. Ecolock is the result of continual R&D on offshore hull coatings since the 1990s.

After more than 10 years of strenuous testing, Subsea Industries launched the ultimate rudder protection coating, Ecoshield, for permanent protection against cavitation damage for rudders. The glassflake reinforced coating protects the rudder for the service life of the ship without need for recoating or major repair and comes with a ten-year guarantee. Ecoshield is also suitable for bulbous bow, stabilizer fins, thruster nozzles and other underwater ship gear which needs special protection from corrosion.

The Surface Treated Composites White Book is the culmination of an intense period of research, compilation and writing including a series of 11 Hydrex White Papers and six issues of the Journal of Ship Hull Performance. 

Hydrex established an office in Algeciras, Spain, strategically located to service the high shipping traffic passing through the Straits of Gibraltar into and out of the Mediterranean. The Spanish office included a full diving team, the latest Hydrex equipment and two customized catamaran workboats. 

Part of the expansion of the company worldwide was to set up a US headquarters in Tampa Bay, Florida, with rapid access to shipping in the Gulf of Mexico and the East Coast of the USA but also serving the rest of the USA, Canada, Mexico and South America. 

Having seen the consequences of using biocidal antifouling paint on ships' hulls, Boud decided that a non-toxic but economically viable system was needed. He decided to research and develop such a method. 

Boud has continued to develop, evolve and improve the underwater cleaning, maintenance and repair equipment and methods used by Hydrex

Throughout his career Boud's spirit of investigation, curiosity, ingenuity and inventiveness has let to a string of inventions, developments and patents, all along the lines of achieving the goals he set as an early age. One of the aims of Hydrex is to keep ships in business, avoiding the need to drydock as much as possible where this would cause unnecessary expense and delays. The development of the prefabricated cofferdam was one step in this direction.