AVON, OHIO, USA – August 2009  — One of Advanced Polymer Coatings most significant developments in its history is now being introduced to the maritime tanker transport market. New MarineLine® X offers versatile, effective solutions for product and oil tanker carriers trading in clean petroleum products (CPP), bio fuels, crude oil and dirty petroleum products (DPP), wine carriers, FPSOs, Vegetable and Edible Oils, and all tankers carrying IBC Chapter 18 cargoes.

The MarineLine® 784 brand name from Advanced Polymer Coatings (APC), in Avon, Ohio, USA, is already well-known in the chemical tanker market, and is the preferred tank lining for handling aggressive chemical cargoes. MarineLine® 784, which uses a forced hot air forced heat cure to form one of the strongest bonds in chemistry, is currently in service on more than 300 chemical tankers worldwide.

Based on this success, Donald J. Keehan, APC Chairman, explains, “Using our extensive background in the marine tank coatings industry, we studied the product and oil tanker markets for several years, working to develop the proper tank coating system for their specific needs, which is different than those of chemical tankers. The result is MarineLine® X – a coating that offers much better performance and versatility for product and oil tanker operators than conventional phenol epoxy or zinc silicate linings which have limitations. We formulated MarineLine® X to outperform those coatings, first providing an application costs savings using a non-forced hot air heat cure approach, yet still maintaining the coating’s performance features for easy cleaning and excellent cargo resistance. This allows us to provide MarineLine® X at a comparable cost to current coatings on the market, ensuring we will change how product and oil tankers will coat their tanks in the years ahead.”

THE MARINELINE® X ADVANTAGE

MarineLine® X offers a number of key benefits for the ship owner and operator. In economic comparisons for the tank coating and the application costs, MarineLine® X only requires a two-coat system, compared to three coatings for Phenol Epoxy. This eliminates extra days for drying and extra spray application costs, resulting in savings and allowing the owner to maximize return on investment in a short period of time.

MarineLine® X, like all the coatings in the MarineLine® family, has a very smooth, low energy surface. This provides fast and easy cleaning. Once cargoes are discharged, tanks are cleaned and dried with minimal effort. This is especially noteworthy when switching from dirty to clean cargoes as the ship owner/operator incurs heavy cleaning costs. Mr. Keehan provides an example, “Compare switching from dirty to clean products in a 45,000 dwt product tanker, with 27,000 square meters of tank coating in 20 cargo tanks. Cleaning a Phenol Epoxy coating takes eight days, requiring a high amount of gas oil. Cleaning MarineLine® X coating takes only four days and requires a small amount of gas oil. The labor and material savings can be up to $80,000 U.S.D. per cleaning.  Multiply this amount every time the tanker switches these types of cargoes during a year, and the savings are immense. More savings results in higher operational profit.”

Another key benefit is MarineLine® X’s inherent chemical resistance, as the coating is formulated with patented high performance polymers that cross-link together to form a hard, tightly knit structure. This durable coating ensures consistent product purity. MarineLine® X offers more corrosion resistance than either Phenolic Epoxy coatings, that can absorb cargoes due to Hydrolysis, or Zinc Silicate coatings that also have absorption problems by retaining oil-like cargoes, and are difficult to clean. A key concern to operators of oil tankers is the acidified moisture (Sulphuric Acid) of wet inert gas systems that corrodes conventional tank coatings. However, MarineLine® X is resistant to this acidified moisture, providing a longer lasting solution.

Versatility is a key strength of MarineLine® X. Due to the coating’s easy and fast cleanability and resistance to a wide range of cargoes, the shipowner/operator can easily switch carrying a range of profitable cargoes from port to port.

MarineLine® X will be provided with a semi-gloss, light blue color. The coating is offered in 5 gallon (19 liters) and 1 gallon (4 liters) kits with catalyst.

Advanced Polymer Coatings has also developed a new Chemical Resistance Guide that presents both MarineLine® X for the product and oil tanker markets, and MarineLine® 784 for the chemical tanker market, allowing viewers to see which coating system is appropriate for handling a particular cargo. An online version of the Chemical Resistance System at the company’s website is also in development.

For more information on the new MarineLine® X tank coating system, contact: Advanced Polymer Coatings Avon, Ohio 44011. Phone: +01 440 937-6218. Website: www.adv-polymer.com