Although newbuilding deliveries from many yards did not
emerge at the rates expected last year as owners responded to
a fall in rates by delaying and cancelling orders, such was the
magnitude of the orderbook that most yards were still at close
to full throttle throughout 2009. This proved good news marine
coatings suppliers, particularly those that launched new products
which comply with the Performance Standard for Protective
Coatings (PSPC) regulations adopted by the IMO in 2006.
The Standard entered into force for all shipbuilding contracts
placed on or after 1 July 2008. It sets a target lifespan for
coatings of 15 years in ‘good’ condition and covers steel
preparation, application, coating inspection and maintenance
regimes for protective coatings in dedicated seawater ballast
tanks of all types of ships over 500gt, and for double-side skin
spaces in bulk carriers of 150m in length and upwards.
International Paints (IP) has now introduced a new range of
universal primers for the newbuilding market which meet the
remit of the Standard and use the latest light-coloured, pure
epoxy primer technology which features polymer systems that
have not been modified with hydrocarbon resins, non-reactive
dilutents or plasticizers.
The new IP range includes pure epoxy, aluminium containing
coatings such as Intershield 300HS, Intershield 300, Intergard 787
and Intergard 7600, and modified epoxies Intergard 5600 and
5620.
“For the bulk operator, the new range of primers provides
long-term asset protection with controlled through life
maintenance costs, high performance corrosion and abrasion
resistance and PSPC compliance,” said Rob Taylor, Market
Manager, Bulk Carriers, International Paint Ltd.
“For the shipyard, universal primers reduce complexity and
improve productivity by replacing several products with a single
product that can be applied to all block sections, simplifying the
coating process.”
PPG Protective & Marine Coating (PPG) launched a new IMO
PSPC-approved water ballast tank coating in 2008 in the shape
of SigmaCover 380 and now offers an extended product range
that is certified under PSPC
and is available throughout
the world.
“Our ballast tank coating systems are all IMO PSPCcompliant
and we have significant experience in this field,” Jacques de Coninck,
PPG Director of Global Marine, told DCI. “In fact, the
world’s first IMO PSPC-compliant vessel was
coated with our SigmaPrime 700 in its ballast tanks.”
SigmaCover 380 was designed with newbuilding
shipyards in China in mind.
“It primarily meets the needs of the Chinese market in
terms of fit-for-purpose and application conditions,” he
said. “Since it was launched, SigmaCover 380 has been
very successful in providing excellent corrosion
protection for the newbuild industry. We’ve a proven track
record, as demonstrated by the extensive number of vessels that
have been coated with SigmaCover 380.
PPG has also been preparing for the compulsory installation
by 2018 of Ballast Water Treatment Systems on board all ships
under the IMO’s Ballast Water Convention. “We have analyzed
all the ballast water treatment technologies and spoken to some
of this market’s leaders, and can conclude that we do not expect
to see problems in this area with most of these technologies,”
said De Coninck.
With a keen eye on the dry bulk carrier market, Hempel
launched a new high-end, added-value ultra abrasion and impact-
resistant cargo hold epoxy coating called Hempadur Ultra-
Strength 47500 in July last year. The product was developed
specifically to reduce cargo damage in the hold and to extend
repair intervals up to ten years. “The product is also developed
so that it needs only a very short time to cure/dry before the
cargo hold can carry hard angular cargoes like coal, bauxite and
iron ore,” said Michael Aamodt, Hempel’s Group Marine Product
Manager.
“The high Tg (glass transition temperature) of the coating
also reduces damage from warm coal cargoes, in fact better than
any of the major cargo hold coatings in the market. “
Operators, he said, would also benefit from extended repair
intervals for cargo holds and less damage from hard angular
cargoes.
Hempel increased its overall sales volume for bulkers by 27%
in 2009 compared to 2008, while sales volumes for newbuilding
bulk carriers increased 400%.
Aamodt said that there were signs of some clients delaying
investments in paints as part of general cutbacks on maintenance
and repair regimes but “there were also some owners/operators
upgrading to high performance coatings to reduce their long
term maintenance expenses.”
At PPG De Coninck said paint demand last year remained inline
with expectations in the newbuild segment, which was
primarily driven by the existing orderbook. “The number of
enquiries was still healthy although the scope of repair in dry
dock was reduced,” he said. “In general, though, we did see
operators wanting to delay as much as possible.
“For newbuild, the dry bulk segment continues to surprise
most analysts, as there is overcapacity in the market as well as
an unprecedented orderbook. Nevertheless, dry bulk vessels,
although significantly lower in number, were still leading the new
contracting tables.
“Although slippage and even cancellations were commonplace
throughout the year, PPG was less affected and targets were
met, thanks to a solid customer portfolio and strong customer
relationships.”
International Paints actually supplied more tonnage last year
than in 2008 despite the global financial crisis with supplies to
newbuilding yards in line with forecasts.
Taylor said that while bulk carrier operators continued to
seek value for money from paint suppliers, high performance
coatings for cargo holds that provided protection from abrasion,
and products for ballast tanks that prevented corrosion, were
“less price sensitive than, for example, the choice of cosmetic
finishes”.
He said that owners that decide to lay up vessels should
implement a carefully planned maintenance programme. “For
example,” he added, “if the ballast tanks are to be emptied, the
application of Interbond 808 which is both surface and moisture
tolerant and contains aluminium to give long term anticorrosive
performance, can play an important role in a planned
maintenance programme.”
Owners with static vessels needed to consider the effect of
fouling on the underwater hull antifouling and, if an extended layup
was planned they should arrange an underwater clean before
the vessel returned to service. “An important factor is to avoid
damage of the antifouling system by using a professional
underwater cleaning company,” he added. “The consequences of
getting it wrong can be expensive and can result in increased
hull roughness as well as providing an attractive site for future
fouling growth.”