The NAHO Moat
A Sustainable Competitive Advantage
Mission
A Cleaner, Less Polluting, More Efficient Shipping Fleet
Starting in San Francisco Bay, NAHO ushers in EPA-approved in water/at port hull optimization to North America, massively improving the fuel efficiency and CO₂ emissions of vessel operations while keeping some of the most dangerous and damaging invasive species out of our waters.
Market Position
Exclusive Rights, Regulatory Leadership
NAHO holds exclusive North American rights to the Vacu-Cart & Reclaim System from Schomberg, South Africa. The territory covers the United States, Caribbean, Mexico and Canada.
California's EPA confirms NAHO can perform in San Francisco Bay without further approval. The Waterboards are using Vacu-Cart performance data to define the new NPDES General Permit — setting the bar other operators will need to clear.
Subscription Model
Strategic Maintenance
NAHO's subscription-based service model goes far beyond traditional hull cleaning. By converting hull maintenance from a variable, transactional expense into a managed annual partnership, NAHO embeds itself into customers' operations, improving key aspects of vessel operations in ways that are unlikely to change back.
By providing consistent hydrodynamic efficiency a shipping operator can achieve savings of several hundred thousand dollars and more, avoid an oncoming raft of fees for CO2 and NOx emissions, and reduce systems wear and tear through reduced vibration and well functioning cooling processes.
By managing hull monitoring and documentation towards insurance and regulatory agencies, NAHO opens the possibility of replacing dry dock inspections with in-water inspections (UWILD), further reducing costs and scheduling issues. The totality of the NAHO service model provides the essential moat for any provider: supreme customer stickiness.
Technology Edge
Evolving Technology
The Schomberg Vacu-Cart is not a static piece of equipment — it is a living platform engineered for continuous improvement. While competitors rely on off-the-shelf systems that have remained largely unchanged for years, the Vacu-Cart undergoes relentless refinement driven by field data from active operations across three continents.
Its accuracy is unmatched. Diver-supervised cleaning achieves consistent, repeatable results that robotic-only alternatives cannot replicate, while the integrated reclaim system captures 99% of biofouling debris — a threshold that exceeds regulatory requirements by a wide margin. Schomberg continuously updates the platform's software, filtration efficiency, and cleaning protocols based on real-world hull condition data, ensuring the system stays ahead of evolving biofouling challenges and tightening environmental standards.
This commitment to iterative improvement means NAHO is not merely deploying today's best-in-market technology — it is delivering a solution that gets smarter, cleaner, and more efficient with every hull it treats.