A large tanker can reduce its fuel consumption by up to 12 tonnes per day by effective fouling control. Hempel’s Klaus Moller said that a large tanker normally burns about 115 tonnes of fuel per day. He calculated that by reducing the consumption level by 12 tonnes, a reduction of about 10,000 tonnes of co2 emissions would be possible. A Euronav ULCC was recently coated with Hempasil while drydocking in Dubai where a saving of 8% in fuel consumption was claimed over its sister ship.

However, Moller warned that the coatings industry was facing increased raw materials cost, increasing environmental legislation, shorter product lifetimes, which will reduce the R&D payback period and increased use of product performance inspections and certification. The growth in the newbuilding sector will also lead to increased maintenance as more ships approach their surveys in a few years time. The fleet will increasingly become younger and more efficient. He said that Hempel was seeing customers becoming more professional when dealing with coatings.