Chapter 15
Barnacles Growth Monitoring at KL
Paus Hull Using Scilab Programming
Zulzamri Salleh and Abdul Rahman Harun
Abstract The aim of this research is to monitor the growth of barnacle at the KL
Paus hull vessel part using Scilab programming (image processing). Barnacles paste
on the hull of a ship might effect the resistance of the vessel, increase friction and
can reduce the vessel’s speed. The ship must then be put in a dry dock to have
the bottom scraped. From the results, it is shown that barnacle grew drastically for
three consecutive months and the analysis form the Scilab Blob analysis found the
indicated grey, dark and red intensity with true pixel increased by 30%. The edge
detection image was also able to find the starting of the barnacle growth with small
size. The monitoring of the barnacles is difficult if no proper instrument and analysis
processes are used. It is now commonly accepted that using computers simulation and
data analysis have become widespread throughout differences areas of engineering
applications. By using the Scilab software, we analysed the photos of barnacle growth
that were taken frequently for 3 months.
Keywords Barnacle · Image processing · Scilab
15.1 Introduction
Mainly unwanted colonisation organisms such as marine biofouling are common on
immersed structures and they rapidly grow in the sea. In marine, barnacles are the
main problem marine transport such as boat, ship and sub-marine vehicles because
need periodically blasting and cleansing process [1]. The barnacle is a small saltwater
animal with a protective shell-like covering. There are more than 1,000 species
around the world. The effect of barnacles on the hull of a ship might decrease the
performances such as the drag of the vessel, friction and this can reduce the vessel’s
Z. Salleh (B) · A. R. Harun
Maritime Engineering Technology Section, Universiti Kuala Lumpur, Malaysian
Institute of Marine Engineering Technology Lumut, Perak, Malaysia
e-mail: zulzamri@unikl.edu.my
A. R. Harun
e-mail: rahman_harun88@yahoo.com
© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
A. Ismail et al. (eds.), Advanced Engineering for Processes and Technologies II,
Advanced Structured Materials 147,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-67307-9_15
155
Barnacles Growth Monitoring at KL
Paus Hull Using Scilab Programming
Zulzamri Salleh and Abdul Rahman Harun
Abstract The aim of this research is to monitor the growth of barnacle at the KL
Paus hull vessel part using Scilab programming (image processing). Barnacles paste
on the hull of a ship might effect the resistance of the vessel, increase friction and
can reduce the vessel’s speed. The ship must then be put in a dry dock to have
the bottom scraped. From the results, it is shown that barnacle grew drastically for
three consecutive months and the analysis form the Scilab Blob analysis found the
indicated grey, dark and red intensity with true pixel increased by 30%. The edge
detection image was also able to find the starting of the barnacle growth with small
size. The monitoring of the barnacles is difficult if no proper instrument and analysis
processes are used. It is now commonly accepted that using computers simulation and
data analysis have become widespread throughout differences areas of engineering
applications. By using the Scilab software, we analysed the photos of barnacle growth
that were taken frequently for 3 months.
Keywords Barnacle · Image processing · Scilab
15.1 Introduction
Mainly unwanted colonisation organisms such as marine biofouling are common on
immersed structures and they rapidly grow in the sea. In marine, barnacles are the
main problem marine transport such as boat, ship and sub-marine vehicles because
need periodically blasting and cleansing process [1]. The barnacle is a small saltwater
animal with a protective shell-like covering. There are more than 1,000 species
around the world. The effect of barnacles on the hull of a ship might decrease the
performances such as the drag of the vessel, friction and this can reduce the vessel’s
Z. Salleh (B) · A. R. Harun
Maritime Engineering Technology Section, Universiti Kuala Lumpur, Malaysian
Institute of Marine Engineering Technology Lumut, Perak, Malaysia
e-mail: zulzamri@unikl.edu.my
A. R. Harun
e-mail: rahman_harun88@yahoo.com
© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
A. Ismail et al. (eds.), Advanced Engineering for Processes and Technologies II,
Advanced Structured Materials 147,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-67307-9_15
155