FLORIDA headquartered maritime innovator Seascour has struck a second deal to supply its organic marine descaler product on one of the Great Lakes most famous vessels The Wilfred Sykes.
The iconic steam powered bulk freighter built in 1949 (see notes to editors), operated by Indiana based Central Marine Logistics, has just received its second application of Seascour the first organic descaler on the market and the first to receive the Environmental Protection Agency’s Safer Choice certification for outdoor use.
The job saw Seascour used to clean heat exchangers, including coils and internal workings successfully removing scale and remedying long-standing problems affecting its systems. The latest deal follows initial work by Seascour to flush an evaporator on the vessel which was carried out during a lay-up on Sturgeon Bay.
The Wilfred Sykes deal was secured by Seascour’s Great Lake distributor Archway Control, LP, based in Fort Madison, Iowa.
Archway Control owner Doug Abolt said: “We want to thank Central Marine Logistics for trusting us to work on the Sykes for a second time. We know they have been trying for 20 years to find a solution to the build-up of marine scale on the Sykes, using different chemicals and manual work.
“Seascour has given them the ideal solution. It can remove scale when other products can’t and the fact it is environmentally safe means you can push it back to the water which is a big issue on the Great Lakes. Because Seascour is organic it does not contribute to pollution or create dense algae blooms which plague the lakes. This makes Seascour a real innovation as other traditional chemical descaling products contribute to algae blooms by discharging hydrochloric and phosphoric acids.”
Seascour’s use on The Sykes is the latest in a series of deals secured as the company continues on its growth journey three years after founding.
Notable milestones have been made in the last year. These include seeing Seascour used successfully on a wide range of merchant, naval and recreational vessels across the US.
Seascour President Kelly Hendry says the descaling industry is ripe for disruption.
“Seascour can end the era of caustic chemical cleaning,” she said. “The traditional methods of cleaning scale, and marine growth from heat exchangers, coolers, strainers, water desalination units and HVAC systems are notoriously expensive and damaging to equipment and the machinery and pipes around it. And the harmful chemical cleaners used are further dangerous to shipyard workers and harmful to the environment.
“Seascour can revolutionize descaling, one of the toughest most polluting jobs in a shipyard, making it fast, safe and easy.”
Ms Hendry, who runs the Gulf Marine shipyard in Tampa, brought Seascour into the wider Hendry Holdings Group in 2023 having spotted the invention created by former US Navy submariner turned chemist Patrick Baymont.
Seascour is set for rapid growth following extensive testing this year on US Navy, US Coast Guard and NOAA oceanographic research vessels and is currently undertaking NAVSEA approvals
Seascour is further building a network of distributors across the US and now has six in place and is looking to appoint more agents worldwide.
For more information visit: www.seascour.com
Notes to editors 1
Wilfred Sykes background
Built by American Shipbuilding Co., Lorain, OH in 1949 for Inland Steel Co., the streamlined bulk freighter Wilfred Sykes was the first new American-built Great Lakes vessel constructed after World War II. At the time of her launch, she was the largest vessel on the Great Lakes. The Sykes is powered by 2 steam turbine engines producing a combined 7,700 horsepower driving an 18-1/2 foot diameter four-blade propeller giving her a speed of up to 16 mph. Being the first steamship built to burn “bunker C” heavy oil for fuel instead of coal, her fuel tanks can hold 165,000 gallons giving her a cruising range of 4,500 miles.
The Sykes was the first Great Lakes vessel built with a 70-foot beam and was also the first laker built capable of carrying in excess of 20,000 tons. She set iron ore cargo records during her first three seasons of operations (1950, 51, & 52).
She is equipped with a 250-foot stern mounted discharge boom that can be swung 90 degrees to port or starboard for unloading.
The Wilfred Sykes continues to be an active member of the Central Marine Logistics fleet, serving the cargo needs of many Great Lakes industries.
