Are robotics the future of ship hull cleaning? 

As ships travel the seas, an assortment of barnacles, mussels, algae and marine fouling accumulate on their hulls. Having a rough living coating on the hull keeps the ship from smoothly cutting through the water. This means that their engines have to work harder, thus using more fuel and producing more exhaust.

Traditionally there were 2 main choices to hull cleaning; pressure washing in dry dock which is very costly, or underwater cleaning using divers and underwater cleaning machines. 

However now Robotics technology offers a third choice. One option uses a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) that cleans the ships hull, at port, by moving across the surface like a big lawnmower. The system removes the fouling and pumps it ashore where it is processed and deposited. The other technology is where an acrylate-based coating is applied to the ships hull. A robot unit stays on board the ship as a "permanent member of the crew," and it is connected to the operator’s control center through an umbilical. It lets the crew know when hull cleaning should be performed. It can be operated anywhere in the world with 4G coverage once the ship is anchored. Both offer efficient and environmentally safe approaches.