OUR FOUNDERS INVENTED THE FIRST Electrolytic MARINE GROWTH PROTECTION SYSTEM
In 1955, two Canadian men invented an innovative new product that would influence the shipping industry for years to come!
THE BEGINNING
The journey to becoming the leaders in antifouling and corrosion began with our founders, Lauder Ramsay and Frank Lewis Chappell.
In 1950 Frank Chappel took up the battle against marine vessel villains—growth and corrosion on ships, boats, freighters, or anything exposed to the buildup of marine plant and animal organisms such as barnacles and mussels. He began to experiment with some possible solutions. After some deep thinking, he invented a cleaning system to combat the relentless mussels, barnacles, and corrosion and protect ships on future voyages! The invention would later become the international standard for Marine Growth Protection Systems (MGPS).
The S.S. Princess Kathleen of the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) Coast Services was the first vessel to try this new system in the same year of the invention.
How did Frank convince them to install just on theory?
“No cure, no pay!”. These were the one-year contract conditions.
However, in only nine months, Frank Chappell’s system achieved highly satisfying results! And the system was fitted on three other CPR coast steamships between 1951 and 1952. With this success, in 1955, these two industry pioneers founded Electrolytic Marine Corrosion Services, later abbreviated in 1983 to EMCS Industries, as it is known today.
SIGHTS SET HIGH
Frank and Lauder had set their sights high and could see worldwide applications for the system. The men found partners Commander Patrick Heathfield, William Salisbury, and Harry Gale to expand and promote their brand abroad. Keeping up with the fast-paced market, Cathodic & Electrolytic Engineers Ltd. opened in 1956 in the UK, selling the Marine Growth Protection System, the Cathelco System, under license from EMCS. In 1961, the patent was filed and granted for the Canadian-invented and engineered Cathelco System. EMCS began to market Cathelco directly in North America and its new UK agent, Cathodic & Electrolytic Engineers Ltd, throughout the UK and Europe.
In 1989 the North American and UK partners ceased their relationship, and the UK company changed its name to Cathelco Ltd, the same name as the marine growth protection system. However, this name change created much confusion among the new competitors, leading EMCS to re-brand their system to MARELCO™.
THE NEW CHAPTER
The Ramsay family owned EMCS until 2015 when the company was bought by EMWCS Inc. and appointed Trevor Tasker as the new President and CEO. Trevor was impassioned for the company and for providing turnkey antifouling solutions to the marine industry; within two years of owning the company, he acquired Hull Tender International Inc.
Hull Tender International Inc. offered an innovative and environmental solution in marine biofouling by installing an emitter on a vessel to produce a low-frequency acoustic sound into the water that discouraged barnacles and mussels from attaching to boats’ undersides. The founder Derek Knox’s success was based solely on word of mouth.
Impressed by the system, Tasker and Knox made a deal a few months after their first contact. As a result, Hydrosonic Hull Tender became part of EMCS Industries Ltd and today is the bedrock of our sustainable antifouling solution, the MARELCO™ WAVE.
At EMCS Industries, we are passionate about delivering marine biofouling and corrosion solutions that work! In 2022 reestablished our 67 years relationship with Cathelco Ltd. With our shared history and aligned values, we agreed to provide our customers with a focused provider in North America, offering you an unparalleled wealth of experience in antifouling + anticorrosion. And as part of our research and development mandate and our recent partnership with Evac’s, Cathelco, we intend to collaborate and undertake considerable research and development to bring more sustainable solutions in the antifouling + anticorrosion to market.
