Full coatings and technical service package 

When the biggest container shipping company in China commissioned the building of two neopanamax container vessels, each with a capacity of 13,500 TEU, it needed a coatings supplier who could add value to the project. After assessing offers from a number of suppliers, the company chose Hempel due to our ability to offer both industry-leading coatings and comprehensive technical service.

Our coatings package included our Globic antifouling series for the underwater hull, an advanced coating that utilises patented nano acrylate technology to improve a vessel’s efficiency, both in terms of fuel consumption and emissions. In addition, we specified our Hempadur Quattro XO, a universal self-primed high-performance coating for atmospheric or immersion service, to protect the external and internal steel structures.

As part of our technical service package for the newbuilding application, a team of Hempel coating advisors worked with the application teams on each vessel to ensure all coatings were applied according to specification – with minimum time, waste and costs – and would perform as promised throughout their entire service life.

We have worked with the owner for over 30 years and have tracked the performance of our hull coatings on a number its vessels. As a result, we knew that a combination of Globic 8000 and Globic 9000 would be the perfect fit for the newbuildings. As well as offering optimum fuel-saving benefits over the entire first docking internal, the hybrid Globic scheme can be applied with less dry film thickness than competitor products, reducing coating consumption and application costs.

For the internal and external steel – including the ballast tanks, decks, cargo holds, hatch covers and superstructure – we specified Hempadur Quattro XO, a self-priming high-performance coating that meets IMOPSPC requirements for ballast tanks. As well as offering excellent long-term durability, Hempadur Quattro XO has been created to suit the working methods of shipbuilders. Its short recoat intervals enable quick turnaround times between coats and it has a high volume solids ratio, which means less volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are released into the atmosphere during application.

As part of our technical service package, we assigned a team of FROSIO/NACE-certified coating advisors to each vessel. The coating advisors worked with the applicators to ensure the coatings were applied according to specification, and coordinated with the project team to ensure maximum application efficiency – to keep application time, waste and costs to a minimum.