CW: How has your company dealt
with the ban on TBT and how are
these replacement products performing?
Brown: We were preparing for the
ban on TBT long before it actually
happened. In 1996 we introduced
Intersleek 425, a biocide-free foul
release technology for fast craft and
in 1999 introduced Intersleek 700
for deep sea, scheduled ships. In
2007, we introduced the next generation of foul release technology,
Intersleek 900. This is a patented
biocide-free fluoropolymer foul
release coating representing the latest advances in foul release technology, significantly improving upon
the performance of the silicone-based system, Intersleek 700.
SHERWIN-WILLIAMS’ NEW PROTECTIVE & MARINE COATINGS GROUP
Sherwin-Williams has announced the newlynamed Protective &
Marine Coatings. Formerly Sherwin-Williams Industrial & Marine
Coatings, the new Protective & Marine Coatings group will continue to
serve markets including water and wastewater, petrochemical, food
and beverage, power, marine and offshore, pharmaceuticals, health
care, roads and bridges, steel fabrication, industrial flooring, rail, pulp
and paper, and general industrial.
where a significant part of the fleet
will enter into lay-up. SeaMate
Static is specially designed to handle
static operations and is now offered
to customers as a final coat to give
12-24 months performance. Overall,
we have been experiencing an
increasing demand for our products
and services, and as a consequence of
this we recently opened a new factory in South Korea.
Eikenes: Jotun replaced TBT technology with silyl acrylates technology. We have now nearly two decades
experience with this technology and
it performs excellent. Our SeaQuantum silyl acrylate technology
is superior to other technologies and
recently we have seen that all our
major competitors are now following
us with their attempts on silyl acrylates. We take this as a good sign
and as a confirmation on that our
choice of technology platform was
right from the start.
In October 2008 Jotun launched
SeaMate, a new silyl acrylate
antifouling paint based on the technology and experience we have with
our SeaQuantum. SeaMate is a more
affordable premium five-year product targeted to meet competition
from the recent and upcoming silyl
acrylate innovations from our competitors. While working on SeaMate
we realized that many of our customers were going to face a situation
where their vessels under construction would enter the market without
any contracts, thus facing a situation
CW: What are the current trends
driving the marine coatings
market and where is the technology headed?
Brown: There’s no doubt that there’s
an increased environmental focus
amongst our shipowner and shipyard
clients and we hear the words ‘
sus-tainability’ and ‘corporate social
responsibility’ far more frequently.
These issues are right at the top of
company agendas and will drive
future coatings developments. This
will include less solvent, less biocides
and a smaller range of raw materials
for formulating chemists to work
with. Indeed, many of our existing
products are already especially
designed to assist our customers’
environmental initiatives. Interplate
Zero for example is a water-based
newbuilding shop primer that has
zero VOCs.
China is fast becoming the world’s largest shipbuilding nation and has set a
goal of becoming number one in the industry by 2015. In 2007 the order books
at Chinese shipyards like the one pictured above belonging to the Dalian
Shipbuilding Industry Co., the eight largest in the world, surpassed those of
Japan to be second only to South Korea. In terms of new orders, China was
actually number one in 2007, totalling 98.5 million deadweight tons, or 42%
of the global total, according to the Beijing government.
Eikenes: Drivers in the marine coatings market have been unprecedented
new building programs, which
increase the supplies of coatings to
new buildings significantly. A high
number of new buildings will enter
the market between 2009 and 2011
and add further to the supply/demand
imbalance. The economic recession
