PHILADELPHIA - Rohm and Haas Co., in a move the company said will boost its technical support of the marine antifouling-paint market, announced plans to move the technical-support functions of its Sea-Nine 211 marine antifoulant from Spring House, PA, to the company's Acima subsidiary, based in Buchs, Switzerland.

In announcing the move, Rohm and Haas said the majority of its major antifoulant customers are headquartered in Europe. In addition, the company cited the pending phaseout of the use of TBT antifoulants, which will require "top-quality and rapid technical and development support" for alternative technologies such as the Sea-Nine 211 product.

Bryan Hegarty, Global Marketing manager for Sea-Nine, said technical support offered by Acima is expected to accelerate the growth of Sea-Nine 211 "as a valued alternative to tin-based biocides."