Marine Coatings
environmentally compatible. Demand for other marine coatings
such as self-cleaning and self-polishing coatings is likely to be
stable through 2020.”
High demand for marine coatings in Asia Pacific, especially
due to the emergence of China as a major player in the ship-
building industry, is driving the marine coatings market in the
region, according to the report. “The need for fuel-saving and
low-emission coatings are factors driving the growth of the
marine coatings market over the past few years. Growth in the
shipbuilding industry in India, Vietnam and the Philippines is
expected to provide large opportunities for players in the ma-
rine coatings market during the forecast period. However, vola-
tility in prices of raw materials is projected to hamper market
growth during the same period.”
Suppliers report that the marine coatings market saw a slight
decrease over the last 12 months, though there is reason to be-
lieve the market will continue to stabilize and remain strong.
Thomas Molenda, global platform director, marine coatings,
PPG, said that lower economic growth and an oversupply of
vessels is responsible for stresses in the marine market. “New
construction of ships is at low levels and customers are suffering
from low freight rates, especially in the dry bulk sector. We’re
finding that the tanker segments have performed much better
than dry cargo,” he said. “Globalization will continue to be
a positive macro trend that will benefit the shipping industry.
Although the new construction markets are operating at low
levels, maintenance and repair has been more robust.”
Christian Ottosen, Hempel Hempel A/S group vice president,
marine marketing, said that “tough times” for shipping compa-
nies have created an increased demand for premium coatings, as
they help to improve operational efficiency.
Last year, he added, there were a great number of ships
entering mandatory dry docking. “This large volume of dry
dockings was a result of the 2010/2011 new building deliveries
reaching their first mandatory dry docking, coupled with the
fact that many ship owners dry docked earlier than scheduled,
due to the anticipated requirement to fit ballast water treat-
ment systems. Dry docking activity in 2016, however, is no-
ticeably different, with the market down to the more ‘normal’
levels of 2014.”
Growth in this market is being driven, in general, by the size
of the global market fleet, Ottosen said. “2015 showed a growth
in the world fleet capacity of 3. 3 percent, which poses both
growth opportunities for the industry but at the same time pos-
es challenges to ship owners. Moreover,” he added, “the IMO
water ballast regulations were, at the time, expected to come
into force in January 2016, which provided an incentive to ship
owners to dry dock their vessels earlier than scheduled in order
to postpone the installation of expensive water ballast water
treatment systems. This lead to a general increase of 25-30 per
cent, globally, of dry dockings in 2015. 2015 also witnessed an
increase in activity for the sale and purchase market, with the
number of transactions 25 per cent higher than the average vol-
ume of tonnage sold between 2010 and 2014, leading to more
vessels being dry docked after the transaction.”
Trends: beyond green
While the needs of the marine market tend to be consistent, an uptick in environmental initiatives has directly impacted this market.
Oscar Wezenbeek, managing director, AkzoNobel Marine
Coatings, said that ship owners and operators “are facing increasingly tough times, with continued low freight rates, a
lack of liquidity, and impending environmental regulations.”
Pressures from charterers, he added, and shippers to improve
operational and environmental efficiencies, as well as sustainability within the supply chain, add further challenges.
“At AkzoNobel we understand the challenges that our customers face, and gear all the research and development that goes
into creating our products and services towards providing solutions that help to alleviate these pressures. In line with this, we
have seen an increase in the uptake of premium hull coatings,
such as our Intersleek range of products that improve operational and environmental efficiencies, reducing fuel consumption and associated costs and emissions.
“In addition, we also developed shipping industry’s first car-
bon credits methodology. Launched in 2014 in conjunction with
The Gold Standard Foundation and Fremco Group, the scheme
is based on ship owners converting existing vessels from a bio-
cidal antifouling system to a premium, biocide-free hull coating
such as Intersleek. The pioneering methodology financially re-
wards ship owners for using sustainable hull coatings that im-
prove operational efficiencies and reduce emissions.”
Ottosen of Hempel added that, in the marine segment, many
vessel owners and operators are looking to improve fuel effi-
ciency in order to drive long-term cost reductions.
“Looking at paint supplies from a ‘Total Cost of Ownership’
perspective is becoming increasingly more and more important,
and we are focusing on assisting our customers to be more com-
petitive by helping them reduce their operational costs,” he said.
“Evolving environmental regulations have been a key influencer
for innovation and technological advances in our sector. These
new regulations demand antifouling products with lower VOCs,
higher solids and less harmful biocides while, at the same time,
providing superior performance, which is why we have invested
heavily in R&D to modify and develop new coatings that meet
ship owners’ environmental requirements.”
The current overcapacity in the market, Ottosen said, which
has developed in several shipping sectors, freight rates are low
and volatile, has put pressure on ship owners and operators to
constantly seek efficiencies that save time and cost.
“The recent trend for slow steaming is continuing, despite
the lower oil price, meaning anti-foulings that had previously
relied on the relatively fast movement of the vessel through the
water to help remove biological organisms are now becoming
less effective. This has paved the way for a new generation of
marine coatings,” he said.
Areas of growth, focus
While the Asia Pacific market has been the source of the greatest
growth in recent years, there has been a slight decline in activity
there due to decreased contracting of new vessels. AkzoNobel’s
