Marine Coatings
August 2016 www.coatingsworld.com Coatings World | 43
Wezenbeek said that recently enacted environmental regulations – such as biocidal production regulations – have significantly affected the market. Suppliers and fleet owners are
also watching the Asia Pacific market carefully to determine
whether or not those countries will also enact their own environmental regulations.
Wezenbeek said, “At AkzoNobel, we are leading the industry
when it comes to environmental regulations and sustainability.
All products manufactured by AkzoNobel are currently regis-
tered under national laws within the European Union. Under
the new BPR requirements, once the active ingredients are as-
sessed, we will be required to seek re-approval for our products.
Dossiers for product authorization under BPR are expected to
be submitted within the next two to three years. The precise
legal timescales for this are yet to be published. However, we
know that the authorization process can then take up to three
years after the dossier submissions are complete, which means
that BPR is not expected to impact product approvals for at
least three years.”
Wezenbeek added that all biocides currently used in
AkzoNobel’s EU anti-foulings are supported under the BPR.
“Depending on the final requirements of the BPR human and
environmental risk assessments (some aspects of which are yet
to be established by the EU authorities) changes to formulations
may be required, but at this stage it is too early to provide a
definitive answer. In addition, we are actively working in China
and Korea to respect the legislation, as it evolves,” he said.
Developing new products that minimize the industry’s
impact on the world’s oceans, Ottosen said, is at the top of
Hempel’s agenda.
“We understand the marine industry is under increasing
pressure to be both more efficient and to comply with evolv-
ing environmental regulations. We believe that the marine
coatings market can assist ship operators meet their environ-
mental obligations by offering and developing coatings with
a high solids ratio.
“The higher the solid content, the less volatile organic com-
pounds (VOCs) are released into the atmosphere on application,
and 77 percent solids are becoming fairly standard for many
Hempel products. The positive side effect of a high solids con-
tent is that less paint evaporates on application ensuring more is
applied to the vessel – less waste equals less cost - increasing our
customer’s operational efficiency,” he said.
Ottosen added that environmental legislation in China is also
becoming increasingly strict. In February 2015, a new tax on
VOCs came into effect. “A growth in Chinese public awareness
of environmental issues, particularly with regard to air quality,
means that we can expect more such legislation in the future,”
he concluded.
PPG’s Molenda said that as regulations spur ongoing
change in the industry, PPG continues to prioritize the development of new environmentally-friendly products. “We, as PPG,
have to be responsive in order to find solutions for our customers. We’re already seeing stronger environmental regulations
coming from some Asian countries and we expect that this will
continue,” he said.
New technologies, products
Marine coatings suppliers are frequently introducing new technologies to the market. What follows is information on these
new innovations from select manufacturers, in their own words.
AkzoNobel
Intertrac Vision is the industry’s first big data consultancy tool,
which predicts the performance of coatings prior to their application, improving the rigor of product selection to meet the
Zinc: A Global Supplier’s Perspective
By Joe Husseini, International Sales and Trading director, U.S. Zinc
The marketplace is experiencing a recent uptick in demand for zinc. As a
result, zinc inventories are falling and
the prices are rising. Since the start of
2016, zinc has risen by almost 40 percent
on the London Metal Exchange Index
(LME). Specifically, there is a great demand for both zinc oxide and zinc dust
in the marketplace. Helping meet this
global demand with ample capacity, U.S.
Zinc operates four zinc oxide manufac-
turing locations and the largest single-
site zinc dust plant in the world. U.S. Zinc
relies on its connections with major zinc
metal suppliers for its raw material sup-
ply, which is comprised of recycled zinc
from various galvanizers and special high
grade zinc from the smelters.
U.S. Zinc is a major supplier of zinc
oxide and zinc dust. Zinc oxide is found
in rubber and tire, ceramics, lubricants,
chemical and pharmaceutical products
for a variety of enhancement purposes.
Zinc dust is used in primer coatings for
marine and industrial applications to inhibit corrosion. Zinc used in the galvanizing process acts to inhibit steel corrosion,
which dramatically extends the life of the
material in marine environments by protecting it from oxidation and water.
With the rebound in the steel markets, galvanizing services are in strong
demand. The galvanizing process occurs in a couple of ways. The batch process in hot dip galvanizing, or HDG, is
used to coat components with zinc in
smaller applications for fabricators and
smaller manufacturers. The continuous galvanizers, or steel mills, are typically larger individual plants than their
HDG counterparts, coating steel sheet
coils with zinc. Ships, bridges, rigs and
other marine-grade equipment have
galvanization and zinc to thank for this
great protection.
