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Hot on the heels of expansion to Fujairah and Gothenburg, GAC EnvironHull is now offering its HullWiper underwater hull cleaning service at the UAE port of Sharjah.

The HullWiper Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) unmanned underwater hull cleaning unit uses adjustable pressure sea water jets as the cleaning medium rather than brushes or abrasives, resulting in minimal damage to the antifouling surface. Residues and harmful marine growths captured during cleaning are disposed of in an environmentally-friendly manner instead of being discharged into the sea as done using traditional methods.

The green, clean hull cleaning solution was launched in Dubai in November, and expanded operations to Fujairah, UAE, and the Swedish west coast port of Gothenburg in the past two months.

The latest port to join the growing HullWiper network, Sharjah, is home to one of the UAE's finest deep water harbours able to accommodate all kinds of vessels and cargoes. Strong investment in port infrastructure has made it a popular alternative to Dubai and other major ports in the region.

GAC is already well established at the port, where it offers a wide range of integrated shipping and logistics services for local, regional and international clients. That service portfolio has now been further enhanced with GAC EnvironHull extending the use of its unit based in Jebel Ali to the nearby port.

GAC EnvironHull Managing Director, Simon Doran, said: "The expansion of Jebel Ali’s container port has generated a growing need for larger lay-by berths for vessels, in particular for short lay-ups or repairs lasting a few days. Sharjah is a natural choice for such calls, as witnessed by the increasing number of requests we have received for hull cleaning there. This latest development is a direct result of that demand."