The fishing industry today faces many challenges. Increasing fuel costs, reduced quotas and depleted fishing grounds are just a few of the major headaches facing vessel owners and operators.
There is also increasing pressure from environmental groups to adopt sustainable solutions to preserve fish stocks and reduce pollution of the oceans.
The use of environmentally adapted lubricants can provide part of the solution for fishing vessel operators. The introduction of the most environmentally sound lubricants in applications where there are risks of spillage into the ocean is one obvious way in which vessel operators can demonstrate a commitment to the marine environment.
Most vessel operators are keen to ensure that they are doing the best they can in terms of environmental protection, and with the environment becoming an increasingly high profile issue in the marine world, it is important to understand what is considered to be the true criteria for a genuine bio-lube.
Vickers Oil is one of the world's oldest lubricant manufacturers and has gained a deserved reputation as a specialist in stern tube, hydraulic and gear lubricants. After extending its product range in 2003 to include bio-lubes, over 500 commercial vessels have switched to using the Vickers Hydrox Bio and Ecosure ranges.
Peter Vickers, chairman and managing director of Vickers Oil, is keen to ensure that customers considering bio-lubes for the first time have absolute transparency over some of the claims being made. He explains, “It is important that products such as ours are developed and promoted with integrity in order that the genuine efforts of vessel operators to improve their environmental performance are not devalued. There are many environmental and toxicological terms, test methods and associated claims, some of which are of questionable value. For example, a product whose testing leads only to a claim of ‘Primary Biodegradation’ or ‘Inherent Biodegradability’ does not have much credibility in an environmental sense. Similarly, toxicity results on fish alone are of limited significance since the whole food chain needs to be taken into account.”
He also added, “Smoke and mirrors marketing is inappropriate in this critical field and our advice to anyone considering the introduction of bio-lubes is simply to ask to see the data from independent laboratories which show the actual results for each test and so assure themselves that the claims made bear scrutiny."
Vickers says that it is proud of the advances it has made in conjunction with OEMs and customers in developing its range of biodegradable lubricants. The company was presented with the Seatrade Award for Protection of the Marine Environment in 2003.
