MarineLine 784N is a new coating system based on nanotechnology scheduled to be launched in 2009 by Advanced Polymer Coatings. According to the manufacturer, the MarineLine 784N (“n” standing for nano”) will play an important role in the future of the maritime chemical transportation business, and it will have the same high chemical resistance of the current MarineLine 784 system, but with increased elongation and other properties, according to Donald J. Keehan, APC Chairman.

MarineLine 784 has, for 14 years, been a leading tank coating system for handling hazardous cargoes such as acids, alkalis, solvents and other liquid substances. It is currently in use on more than 300 cargo tankers, protecting more than two million square meters.

Keehan said that nanotechnology allows for the engineering of these functional systems at the molecular scale. Nanoelastomers, which are a millionth of a micro in size, endow the coating with key elastomeric features including high fracture energy (for better toughness and impact resistance), increased elongation, and enhanced crack propagation.