Investigation of the Potential for MIC in the Bilge Waters of Australian Naval Vessels

There has been a plethora of research papers published on the microbiologically influenced corrosion (MIC) of carbon and stainless steels in which the association between the presence of various microbes and drastically increased corrosion rates have been demonstrated. MIC attack has been observed in a wide variety of situations including the bilges, piping and tanks of maritime vessels. This paper will present results of recent tests carried out on bilge waters from Australian naval vessels to investigate the potential for MIC in these waters. The work undertaken has included the use of test kits to identify the presence of MIC related bacteria in bilge waters and the use of sampled bilge water in laboratory tests (including SEM/EDS, weight loss, and pit depth measurements) on a range of steel compositions.