We’d like to bring to your attention a television programme currently airing on the Discovery Channel which we believe offers a very positive view on the marine community in general and the work we do at International Paint.
 

Thursday, October 15, 2009

The programme ‘Industrial Junkie’ is part of a 10 episode series that has been commissioned by the Discovery Channel to offer insight into important major industries. One of the episodes is on paint and is dedicated to the research and manufacture of marine coatings, the preparation and painting of a cruise ship and how coatings can help ship owners save fuel and reduce their carbon footprints. 

Produced with the mainstream television viewer in mind, we believe the paint episode strikes a very good balance between entertaining the viewer and generally raising awareness of the big role coatings play in the marine industry and in everyday life. It is also fun, and the show’s presenter Jonny Smith encounters a number of characters and incidents that you will more than likely relate to on his quest to paint a cruise ship.

International Paint was approached by the Discovery Channel last year, with filming for the paint episode taking place over two days in October when a camera crew visited the Felling site in the UK. During the programme, presenter and self-confessed tech-head Jonny Smith is seen working on the manufacture of the foul release coating Intersleek®900. “The difference between Industrial Junkie and other previous shows is that I actually help make the items in question,” he explains. Surface preparation and coating application was then filmed on a cruise ship newbuilding in Germany. 

Introduced in 2007, Intersleek_®900 is based on patented fluoropolymer technology. Exceptionally smooth, it is designed to prevent the build up of marine organisms on ships’ hulls and offers significant fuel and emission savings. It can also be applied to vessels operating at speeds as low as ten knots. 

Other programmes in the ‘Industrial Junkie’ series concentrate on roads, rubber, explosives, coal, trucks, oil, glass, packaging and steel.