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Bacterial biofilms, as these layers are known technically, are used as anchorages by the larvae of so-called "hard growth" organisms,
這些層在技術上被稱為生物被膜，被所謂“硬生長”生物體的幼蟲用作錨固，
such as barnacles and molluscs, and by the spores of bailing seaweeds.
這些生物體包括藤壺和軟體動物，以及海草的孢子。
An absence of biofilms means fouling will never get going in the first place.
沒有生物膜意味著從一開始就不會產生污垢。
Jotun claims that regular pre-emptive cleaning in this way of a typical bulk carrier will result in a continuous reduction in that ship's fuel consumption of 12-13%,
佐敦漆稱，對一艘典型的散貨船定期采用這種先發制人的清潔方式，將使該船的燃料消耗持續減少12-13%，
as opposed to the episodic reductions brought about by current cleaning regimes. This translates into a saving of 4,000 tonnes of oil a year,
而當前的清潔制度帶來的是間歇性的減少。這樣每年則可節省4000公噸石油，
and a concomitant reduction of around $800,000 in fuel bills.
同時還能減少大約80萬美元的燃料費用。
A bonus of all this effort is that an unfouled ship has little risk of carrying unwanted passengers
所有這些努力的一個好處是，一艘無污染船只沒有攜帶不必要乘客的風險，
in the form of alien animal species that might make a nuisance of themselves if they were to become established far from home.
這些外來動物物種，如果在遠離家鄉的地方定居了下來，可能會成為麻煩。
Asian paddle crabs, North Pacific seastars, Asian green mussels and European fan worms
亞洲槳蟹、北太平洋海星、亞洲綠貽貝以及歐洲扇蟲
are four common hull-fouling animals that can turn into pests if introduced into the wrong settings.
是四種常見的船體污染動物，如果被引入不當環境中，它們可能會變成害蟲。
That can easily happen with conventional cleaning-by-diving, because this leaves a mass of debris floating in the water
常規的潛水員清潔很容易造成這些問題，因為常規方式使得大量的殘體漂浮在水面和海床上，
and on the seabed which can harbour such undocumented migrants.
而這些海床可以容納這些非法移民。
Many ports have therefore introduced restrictions on what sorts of hull cleaning can be carried out in their waters.
因此，很多港口對在其水域可進行的船體清潔方式進行了限制。
Widespread adoption of the International Maritime Organisation's biofouling guidelines,
國際海事組織的生物淤積指導方針
which require an assessment of the risks associated with any cleaning carried out while afloat,
要求對在海上進行的任何清潔所涉及的風險進行評估，
is likely to tighten things up still further, so new cleaning methods are desirable.
廣泛采用這一指導方針可能使清潔變得更加嚴格，所以新的清潔方式是可取的。
The HullSkater approach is not perfect. Regular cleaning by robot could, the makers admit,
HullSkater的方法并不完美。制造者承認，機器人定期清理可能
wear away some types of anti-fouling coating, thus limiting the process's efficacy.
磨損一些類型的防污涂層，因此會限制清潔的功效。
Jotun has, however, developed a special, hard-wearing coating, which it plans to sell in conjunction with the robot, to minimise this problem.
但佐敦漆開發了一款特殊的耐磨涂層，其計劃和機器人捆綁銷售，以最大限度地減少這一問題。
HullSkater is now being tested in various parts of the world (for rates of fouling depend on local conditions, such as sea temperatures),
現在HullSkater正在接受世界各國的檢測（因為污垢率取決于當地的環境，如海洋溫度），
and the plan--at least at the moment--is to roll it out commercially this summer.
并且該計劃——至少目前——將在今年夏天進行商業推廣。
If that is a success, according to Hans Peter Havdal, Semcon's general manager,
根據Semcon的總經理Hans Peter Havdal，如果取得成功，
the next stage will be to develop a family of such robots, designed for ships of different sizes and types.
那么下一階段將是為不同尺寸和類型的船只研發一系列這樣的機器人。
Ideally, these will have higher levels of autonomy than HullSkater.
理想情況下，這些機器人將會比HullSkater擁有更高的自主權。
They may even be able to learn the shape of the hull they have been designated to keep spick and span, and thus get on with the job unsupervised.
它們甚至還能夠學習它們被指定保持整潔的船體的形狀，這樣就能夠在沒有監管的情況下繼續工作。
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