Nippon Paint Marine has introduced a new PSPC-compliant universal primer for newbuilds.
Global coatings manufacturer Nippon Paint Marine has added a new anti-corrosive universal primer to its E-Marine range of paints: E-Marine 2000, the company’s first general-purpose epoxy primer manufactured in China for the Chinese newbuilding market.
While E-Marine 2000 is suitable for application to all areas of a newbuild ship, such as the underwater hull, boot tops, topsides, decks and cargo holds, it has been specially formulated to meet market demand for an MSC.215(82)-compliant preparatory primer.
E-Marine 2000, which took two years to develop, is available in grey, red or cream. It is an abrasion-resistant, high-volume, epoxy coating with an 80% solid content and capable of providing long-term corrosion protection.
For ballast water tanks, the required nominal dry film thickness of 320μm can be achieved in two coats but for other parts of ships a range of film thicknesses can be applied in one coat. E-Marine 2000 has a minimum and maximum dry film thickness of 80µm and 1800µm respectively. The product also has a short curing and coating interval time: depending on the temperature, a full cure can be achieved in seven days.
A ballast tank’s first full coat of E-Marine 2000 universal primer (left) and the completed tank coating (right).
“A general purpose, universal primer is a key priority for shipyards as a primer that can be applied to all parts of ship – including ballast water tanks – offers significant commercial technical advantages. As this anti-corrosion paint has been certified for use as a ballast tank coating, more than 70% of a newbuild’s undercoat requirement can be met with just one system”, Gerald Mao, Senior Director, Nippon Paint Marine (Shanghai).
Nippon Marine Paint also developed E-Marine 2000 LT, a low temperature version of the primer, which is also available for application in ambient temperatures between -5°C and 10°C. At 0°C a full cure can be achieved within 18 days.
Since its market introduction last year, more than 640,000 litres of E-Marine 2000 and E-Marine 2000 LT have been ordered from Chinese shipyards for 26 newbuilds scheduled for delivery in 2023 and 2024. These include 15 bulk carriers,11 PCTCs, four 7000TEU containerships and a 6300m3-capacity LPG carrier.