Award of 1st Lloyd’s Register IMO PSPC type approval certificate
 

Thursday, January 31, 2008

International Paint Ltd. is proud to announce that the first Lloyd’s Register IMO PSPC (Performance Standard for Protective Coatings) Type Approval Certificate has been awarded to Intershield_® 300 – a unique abrasion resistant, aluminium pure epoxy coating, widely regarded as the industry benchmark in proven anticorrosive performance.

Mr. Mike Hindmarsh, Worldwide Marine Business Development Manager, International Paint said, “We have always supported the introduction of a standard that would help increase the service life of coatings for seawater ballast tanks and directly contribute to improved safety of life at sea. We’re particularly pleased that the first Lloyd’s Register Certificate has been awarded to our premium anticorrosive, Intershield 300 and are confident that with a proven, twenty year track record on over 5600 vessels, this product will continue to provide the very highest levels of newbuilding productivity and in service performance”.

The PSPC and the Type Approval Certification process places new responsibilities on coatings manufacturers to ensure that all coatings designed for use in dedicated seawater ballast tanks in all types of ships and double side skin spaces of bulk carriers, meet strict performance requirements. To comply, coatings must either pass stringent laboratory testing or be subjected to inspection and confirmation that the coating has provided a minimum of five years ‘Good’ in service performance or that the coating has existing B1 Marintek approval. In addition to this, the coatings manufacturer must meet the approved supplier criteria for each supply location as set out in IACS UR Z17 and PR34. This includes the provision that if the manufacturer makes coatings in different locations under the same product name then infrared identification shall be used to demonstrate that the coating is of the same high quality and specification.

Only if these requirements are met will Lloyd’s Register issue Type Approval Certification. Mr. David Howarth, Global Technology Leader, Lloyd’s Register said, “Both organizations have taken a professional approach in working towards this approval which I believe has been the key to success in providing a practical solution to the application of the standard”

The International Paint Technical Service Training Programme has also gained recognition from Lloyd’s Register. Under the rules of the PSPC, all coating inspectors must either be qualified to NACE Coating Inspector Level 2, FROSIO Inspector Level III or an equivalent qualification. Equivalent means the successful completion, as determined by a qualified tutor, of an approved course based on the requirements of the PSPC that also has an acceptable measurement of performance e.g. an examination. After a thorough review, Lloyd’s Register has accredited our Technical Service Training Programme with equivalent status to the NACE and FROSIO programmes. Accreditation was presented to International Paint by Mr. David Lloyd, Lloyd’s Register Area Manager, Central U.K. and Ireland. The qualification is valid for all current International Paint technical service representatives who have completed training to the required level and who have a minimum of five years experience. Representatives remain qualified provided they continue to be employed by International Paint.