The high performance and durability of International Paint’s anticorrosive coating Intershield 300 were proven at the third special survey of the M/V ‘Eleranta’ in June 2010.
The 15-year-old Panamax bulk carrier, built at Samsung in 1995 and operated by V. Ships UK Ltd., had Intershield®300 applied to her ballast tanks at newbuilding. With minimal maintenance through her life to date, a Lloyd’s Register class surveyor rated as “good” the condition of the double bottom tank coatings.
The ship’s superintendent present at the survey said that the true nature of the coatings, underneath cleaned areas, was “impressive”.
“The few inserts insisted upon by Lloyd’s Register were as a result of stress and fatigue,” he said, “and not due to any coating corrosion. My own opinion is that the main fabric of the topside tanks is still well protected.”
The results of this inspection are believed to be the first real life evidence of an anticorrosive coating performing to such a high standard over a 15 year period. The significance of this lies in the fact that the IMO has set out in its Performance Standard for Protective Coatings (PSPC), now a part of SOLAS, the requirement that anticorrosive coatings used in water ballast tanks should remain in “good” condition for at least 15 years.
International Paint Business Development Manager Andrew Cass commented: “Intershield®300 is the industry benchmark in anticorrosive performance and now we have solid evidence that it remains durable and sound over a 15 year period. It is all the more important because the original application on board the ‘Eleranta’ involved two coats of Intershield®300 of only 125 microns each, rather than the two 160 micron dft coats specified in the IMO regulations. Also there were no sacrificial anodes in the vessel’s ballast tanks either. This really is a fantastic result”.
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