An often-underestimated threat to our economy is steel corrosion, in any kind of industry where water meets steel: the maritime sector, ports, water purification plants, energy production, offshore (renewable) energy production. The costs pertaining to corrosion are immense: the IMPACT study (NACE, 2016; see also Koch et al. 2005; DNV-GL 2012, Papavinasam 2013) sets all-round annual corrosion costs at more than 500 billion EUR for the European Union alone, generally +/- 3.8% of the European GDP. Approximately 5 tons of steel per second are lost through corrosion. In the Oil and Gas Industry (North Sea production platforms) 60% of all maintenance costs are related to corrosion, directly or indirectly (data from 1993). Ninety per cent of ships failures are attributed to corrosion (Melchers, 1999). Consequently, the costs pertaining to corrosion have a substantial impact on the global economy. 

Eurostat data estimate the gross regional product of the 2 Seas area at 1.5 trillion EUR, which – following the methodology and the global estimate in the IMPACT study mentioned above – leads to an estimate of a corrosion cost of about 57 billion EUR for the 2 Seas area. As the World Corrosion Organisation estimates that “25 to 30% of annual corrosion costs could be saved if optimum corrosion management practices were employed” (confirmed by, again, the IMPACT report), that amounts to about 13 billion EUR that is overpaid for the 2 Seas area alone.

For ports, US data indicate that 19.9% of the GDP related to ports could be spent on corrosion. Of the top 20 EU seaports, four are located in the 2 Seas region, cumulatively responsible for 18% of the traded goods (gross weight; data Eurostat). Overall, these four ports have a turnover of 1172 million EUR, which should then amount to 233 million EUR spent on corrosion per year, or an excess of 54 million EUR (given we pay 30% too much, see before).

This thesis analyses the corrosion risk of ports and offshore installation, both from a literature perspective and based on practical measurements.