Underwater air retaining surfaces are of great interest for technical applications. If a transfer of the effect to a technical surface is successful, ship hulls could be coated with this surface to reduce friction between ship and water resulting in less fuel consumption, fuel costs and reduction of its negative environmental impact (antifouling effect by the air layer). In 2007 first test boats already achieved a ten percent friction reduction  and the principle was subsequently patented.  By now scientists assume a friction reduction of over 30%.
The underlying principle is schematically shown in a figure. Two flow profiles of laminar flow in water over a solid surface and water flowing over an air retaining surface are compared here.
If water flows over a smooth solid surface, the velocity at the surface is zero due to the friction between water and surface molecules. If an air layer is situated between the solid surface and the water the velocity is higher than zero. The lower viscosity of air (55 times lower than the viscosity of water) reduces the transmission of friction forces by the same factor.
Researchers are currently working on the development of a biomimetic, permanently air retaining surface modeled on S. molesta  to reduce friction on ships. Salvinia-Effect surfaces have been proven to quickly and efficiently adsorb oil and can be used for oil-water separation applications