Furfurylated and acetylated Scots pine sapwood has been tested since 1999 in a marine field with high marine borer activity. In 2004, two test groups with acetylated southern yellow pine (product later known as Perennial Wood™) were put out and over the whole test period differently furfurylated wood (later marketed as Kebony®) test groups have been started. Furthermore, some combinations of modification methods have also been included, e.g. acetylation followed by treatment with MMF resin or furfurylation. The testing, according to European Standard EN 275, was done in a bay on the Swedish west coast. The marine borer (mainly Teredo navalis) activity at the test site is very high, always resulting in failure of control specimens within a year. Furfurylated wood at a treatment level, resulting in weight percent gain (WPG) figures corresponding to those for current production of Kebony pine and Kebony beech, led to excellent resistance to teredo attack, i.e. no attack or very slight attack after 16 years exposure. Specimens cut from factory-produced Kebony Beech decking boards from 2006 are only slightly attacked after 9 years of exposure whereas factory-produced Kebony pine failed after 8 years of exposure. Specimens of acetylated Scots pine (WPG=21) is severely attacked after 16 years, and acetylated SYP (Perennial Wood™) specimen at the higher acetylation level are either completely sound or only slightly attacked after 11 years of exposure whereas specimens at the lower acetylation level all failed in three years. Furfurylation as post treatment after acetylation resulted in poorer performance than each of the treatments by themselves. However, post treatment with melamine resin after acetylation seems to provide excellent resistance to borer attack.

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