UK Royal Navy chooses Hempaguard X7

The biggest coating challenge for navy support vessels is unpredictability. These ships provide other navy vessels with fuel and supplies – work that can take them anywhere on the globe. This means they need a high-performance hull coating that will keep fouling at bay in any type of water, whether the vessel is slow or fast steaming, or stood alongside. Navy support vessels also require a cargo tank lining that can be cleaned quickly and used for a variety of cargos.

We have worked with the UK Royal Navy for many years and our coatings have been proven to perform in the toughest operational conditions. When the UK Royal Navy commissioned the construction of four new support tankers for the Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA), it asked us to supply the coatings.

We provided a full coatings package for each vessel, as well as dedicated technical support during application. To ensure the vessels had the necessary operational flexibility, our solution included Hempaguard X7 for the underwater, a proven hull coating that performs in any water type and steaming conditions. For the inside of the cargo tanks, we supplied Hempadur 85671, an easy-to-clean tank lining that can tolerate a wide variety of liquids, oils and chemicals.

For the underwater hulls, we specified Hempaguard X7, an advanced silicone-hydrogel hull coating with an extremely low average speed loss of just 1.4 per cent, whatever the vessel’s trading pattern. We had previously supplied 16 UK Royal Navy vessels with the same system, and it had proven to perform in a variety of operational situations, including extended idle days in the most fouling aggressive waters. For the cargo tanks, we specified Hempadur 85671, an interior tank lining able to withstand hot water, brine, crude oil, vegetable oils and other chemicals.

The vessels were built and coated at the Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering (DSME) shipyard in Korea. To ensure excellent coating application, we assigned a team of coating advisors to each vessel. Our team worked closely with the shipyard and applicators to make sure all coatings were applied to specification and would perform as promised throughout their entire service lives.