No one expects the barnacles==
They’re always an issue for ships, but acutely exacerbated by sitting idle in warm water for 90+ days.
Barnacles on the hull are a pain and reduce speed/efficiency, whereas barnacles on propellors can cripple a ship.
Can be removed but will take time and will overwhelm service capacity, which will be stretched paper thin given that we’re talking about trying to clean up 1,500+ ships at the same time.
Update on the barnacle crisis:
“Owners know that you really don’t want ten days of idle time in the Gulf. Fuel bill will go up without hull cleaning. Antifouling producers have clauses in their performance guarantees excluding idle time in waters above certain temperatures.” pic.twitter.com/J6rGWDYSX3
— Marhelm (@MarhelmData) June 1, 2026
Ai says it would take a team of four professional divers 2 to 5 days just to clean a single ship propeller of barnacles
Now extrapolate this to over a thousand ships and not just the propeller
We may be in deep trouble https://t.co/OJdQCHaOPU
— 🏴☠️ (@calvinfroedge) June 1, 2026
Iranian missiles may not be the greatest threat to the ships stranded in the Persian Gulf
Unchecked barnacle growth can reduce speed / increase fuel consumption by 40-80% in extreme cases (IMO, EU CLEANSHIP)
Barnacles can even eventually…sink a ship or cause a total loss pic.twitter.com/VyXEhdjmOZ
— Marhelm (@MarhelmData) June 1, 2026
Yeah, but having the world’s best navy is the key to hegemony, or, maybe not when you factor in the logistics and Mother Nature, and the fact that it is no longer the 19th century. See: Russell Crowe’s best movie (other than Gladiator) Master and Commander.
Of course this cost will be passed on to the consumer, then rising prices will raise the price of stuff at the grocers or walmart, and trucking cost will go up…..the shipping companies are owned by the same wealthy families that run the world…..merchants.