Ships husbandry

Ships husbandry or ship husbandry is all aspects of maintenance, cleaning, and general upkeep of the hull, rigging, and equipment of a ship. It may also be used to refer to aspects of maintenance which are not specifically covered by the technical departments. The term is used in both naval and merchant shipping, but naval vessel husbandry may also be used for specific reference to naval vessels.

Underwater ships husbandry can be financially advantageous when it eliminates the need for dry-dock repairs or extends the interval between dry-dockings, and reduces the time a ship is required to stay in dry-dock.

Underwater ship husbandry includes the following operations:

Several of these operations will release some quantity of harmful material into the water, particularly hull cleaning operations which will release antifouling toxins. Underwater ship husbandry can cause an adverse environmental effect as significant amounts of copper and zinc are released by underwater hull scrubbing. Alien biofouling organisms may also be released during this process.

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