C
OATINGS
N
ew regulations
impacting on the marine
paint industry continue
to develop and evolve. A
mandatory International
Maritime Organization
(IMO) performance standard for protective coatings
for ballast tanks is due to be implemented.
At the maritime safety committee’s (MSC) 81st
session in May, it approved the performance standard
for protective coatings of dedicated seawater ballast
tanks on all new ships and of double-side skin spaces
on bulk carriers, for adoption by MSC resolution at
the next session (MSC 82).
Draft amendments to Solas regulations II-1/3-2
and XII/6 concerning the mandatory performance
standard for protective coatings were also approved
for adoption. It was agreed that the performance
standard should apply to ships for which the building
contract is placed on or after July 1, 2008; or in the
absence of a building contract, the keels of which are
laid on or after January 1, 2009, or the delivery of
which is on or after July 1, 2012.
The International Association of Classification
Societies (IACS) has proposed bringing the require-
ments forward 18 months ahead of the IMO time-
frame. In January 2007, IACS will introduce
requirements for all vessels contracted after January 1,
2007.
Consultancy firm Safinah Ltd believes the new
requirements will create challenges for shipyards and
paint companies, in particular.
The cruise industry will be impacted because the
standard, which was originally implemented for bulk
carriers only, has now been broadened to cover all
ship types.
Maintenance
“[Ballast tanks] are difficult to maintain, so if there is a
failure it is more costly to repair it,” says Dr Raouf
Kattan, managing director of Safinah. “The real impact
would start to fall on the shipbuilder in that the
standard requires a degree of effort that could not be
commonly applied around the world.” He believes this
may in turn have an impact on the ship’s price. “Clearly
on a cruiseship, the incremental price as a percentage
might be much less than on a tanker,” he adds.
Dr Kattan believes the regulation is fairly compre-
44
Applying new
s
ta
n
d
a
r
d
s
Melanie Dayasena reports on how the industry sees
the implications of legislation on ballast tank coatings
that is due to come into force over the next few years
Intersleek 700 applied to
Sensation – Intersleek Grey
on the underwater hull and
Intersleek Blue on the
boottop band
LCIOCt-Nov06pp43-54 29/9/06 12:08 Page 44
