Shipping has become, and rightly so, ever more regulated in terms of its environmental impact. Global paints and coatings manufacturer, Hempel highlights how important for vessel efficiency and its environmental impact is for shipowners to make the right choice of hull coating. If fouling organisms, such as barnacles or biological slime, attach to a vessel’s hull, this creates extra drag meaning more fuel is needed to move the ship through the water which significantly increases fuel costs as well as CO2 emissions.
Andreas Glud, Group Segment Manager, Marine, Dry Dock explains that all of Hempel’s hull coatings have been developed to keep the hull cleaner and to contribute to a better environment by helping customers cut fuel consumption and reduce emissions.
‘’At Hempel we offer different categories of hull coatings. Our traditional antifouling coating is based on active ingredients such as copper oxide and the majority of the market use this type of antifouling product. Over the past few years we have witnessed a trend towards enhanced solutions such as low friction silicone coatings, both with and without biocides. Hempaguard, our award-winning fouling defence coating, is a low friction silicone coating containing minimal biocides, 95 per cent less than a standard antifouling paint. It was the first product to incorporate our Actiguard technology that integrates silicone-hydrogel and full diffusion control of biocides in a single coating. ‘’ Mr. Glud said.
The company claims that Hempaguard guarantees fouling free performance and delivers a fuel saving of six per cent on average at low speeds and during extended idle periods of up to 120 days meeting ship operators’ efficiency needs. The coating retains its effectiveness at both slow and fast speeds to give operators added flexibility.
In an effort to ensure low fuel consumption at high vessel speeds, Neptune Lines operator decided to test Hempaguard X7 on its 6,580dwt car carrier, Neptune Dynamis in 2012. It was soon found that Neptune Dynamis was clearly out-performing other vessels in the fleet in terms of efficiency, with reduced fuel consumption and emissions whilst maintaining high passage speeds. Due to this, Neptune Lines made the decision to switch a number of other vessels to Hempaguard X7.
‘’At Hempel, we understand ship operators’ environmental concerns and are heavily investing in R&D to continue to deliver more robust and flexible products that reduce volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions. Coatings with a high solids ratio and low biocide content are fast becoming the choice of all responsible ship owners. Additionally, we devote much effort to developing highly efficient fouling defence coating systems that maintain a clean and smooth hull which, in turn, enhances energy efficiency.’’ Mr. Glud added.
