Ohio, USA-based Advanced Polymer Coatings, Inc. reports that Latvian Shipping's 1985-built MT 'Zanis Griva', 16,340 dwt, is currently undergoing extensive refurbishment at Lisnave Shipyards, Portugal, during which it will be upgraded from a Products Tanker to IMO Class II Chemical Carrier status.
A major feature of this upgrading program is the gritblasting and anti-corrosion treatment of all 16 cargo tanks and two slop tanks with MarineLine, the high-technology, Siloxirane-based tank lining system patented by APC. The entire cargo tank surface areas-totaling 28,000 m2 - will be prepared to surface grade SA2.5 before being airless-spray coated with three coats of MarineLine, which is then heat cured at 60°C.
The upgrading contract commenced on May 26 and is scheduled to be completed in early-July, from which time MT 'Zanis Griva' will be able to trade in the more demanding, higher-paying IMO Class II chemicals transportation sector.
"This is the third Latvian Shipping tanker to be treated with MarineLine, enabling each vessel to 'trade up' into the methanol-carrying sector," explains Mr. Don Keehan, Director of Research at APC. "It follows nearly three years highly-successful inservice performance of their tanker 'Indra", which had 16 tanks coated with MarineLine in late-1994, and its subsequent experience with MT 'Dzintari' - a sistership of MT 'Zanis Griva' - which also had 16 tanks MarineLine-treated in mid-1995.
Latvian Shipping has stated that a further eight Products Tankers in its fleet - currently relying on zinc-coated cargo tanks - will then be progressively upgraded with Siloxirane-based MarineLine. These include five 'Ventspils'-class tankers (6,300 dwt), and three more 'Zanis Griva'-class vessels (16,340 dwt). The Company's tanker fleet is exclusively employed in the time and trip charter markets.
According to Mr. Andris Klavisn, recently appointed as Latvian Shipping's Chief Executive Officer, a better than planned performance by the Company's tanker fleet was one of the significant reasons behind its First Quarter '97 profit.
"This is a significant 'testimonial' to the performance of MarineLine," claims Don Keehan, "building on the improved revenue-earning results achieved through Latvian Shipping's operational experience with both 'Indra' and 'Dzintari'. We understand that the former vessel was able to command US $20,000 per day in the methanol trade, against $12,000/day prior to its upgrading, and that easier, faster tank cleaning and ship turnaround contributed considerably to the operational savings gained."
Advanced Polymer Coatings originally developed Siloxirane-based polymer coatings and composites to meet the extremely demanding requirements of the US aerospace and defense industries. Its high resistance to wear, extreme temperatures, and aircraft and rocket fuels, coupled with a number of other unique properties, make it eminently suited to a wide variety of other applications where these features can be used to advantage.
One such industrial application is as a lining material for the cargo tanks of chemical tankers, an area where there have been no real advances for more than a quarter of a century. Numerous tests have shown that MarineLine is resistant to more chemicals than zinc silicate and phenolic epoxy tank coatings. It even outperforms stainless steel, being resistant to 98% of all corrosive acids, alkalis, solvents and other aggressive chemicals. "As in most scientific advances where the boundaries of previously-accepted but now obsolete technology are being pushed back, there is a degree of industry scepticism over MarineLine and our performance claims," Don Keehan acknowledges, "and this has slowed down our projected penetration of the chemical tanker coatings market."
Nonetheless, we are making very satisfactory progress despite this not unexpected resistance to change, and also despite disinformation being given to chemical tanker operators by one or two of our 'competitors' in this sector of the industy," he added.
Keehan went on to say: "While the latter development is a severe irritant, because of the inaccurate, untruthful and deliberately misleading statements being made to respected operators in the trade, we are rather amused by their adoption of a 'dirty tricks' campaign! It tells us that APC and MarineLineare perceived to be a real threat to existing 'high performance' chemical-tank coatings suppliers, and that they fully understand their own vulnerability to losing a major share - if not all - of the highly - specialized tank linings market in the years ahead."
"We say 'the proof of the pudding is in the eating' - ask the technical people in Latvian Shipping Company's Tanker Division, or any others of the increasing number of well-satisfied MarineLine customers now giving us repeat orders - they are our most effective sales force, being well informed and well aware of the performance advantages and operator benefits provided by MarineLine," concluded Advanced Polymer's Director of Research.
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