Managing Director Of Milton Marine

1. What is the background of Milton Marine?

Milton Marine is an Australian based business-driven on offing a solid solution to a problem faced by everyone in the marine industry and that is reducing the cost of vessel ownership and reducing the use of anti-fouling paints that impact the environment.

The solution was to team up with a quality driven company called Drive-in Boatwash.

Developed in Sweden by Karl-Axel Bartholf and Jan Alven. As colleagues in the hydraulics industry, they both knew their way around machines, and as keen boaters, they were also very familiar with the age-old problem of keeping your boat bottom clean. In Sweden, the environmental sensitivity of the Baltic Sea area and the changing regulation for antifouling resulted in hull brush washing emerging as a state-endorsed alternative to copper or zinc-based antifouling paints.

The family-run small company was further incentivised to commercially develop the Drive-in Boatwash technology. Success in Sweden has led to international expansion and Drive-in Boatwash went public on the Stockholm Stock Exchange earlier in 2017.

The machines are currently available in a mobile model (Mini wash) and in a range of stationary models the largest of which, BIGWASH 16, can cater for boats up to 53ft.

2. How does the boat wash work?

The simplest way to describe it is like a car wash for boats. The brush unit is contained in a basin, which, once installed in a marina, takes up a mooring space. A hydraulically controlled gate is lowered and the boat sails into the Drive-in Boatwash. The boat is securely moored and the gate is closed during washing. The brush unit travels along the underside of the boat and the rotating brushes work with the boat’s shape and resistance. The operator reverses the travel direction. The average wash time is 15-20 minutes. No detergent or cleaning products are used. Debris and foul settle on the basis floor, where they can be removed and safely disposed of at intervals.

See our animated ‘how it works’ simulation at www.miltonmarine.com