High quality Ecospeed coating gets repeat orders

A third Interscan vessel has just been completed with Subsea’s innovate ship hull coating, Ecospeed. The underwater hull of the ice class general cargo ship M/V Phantom was applied in Klaipeda, Lithuania. The other two ships, also general cargo ships, have been sailing through entirely different sea and weather conditions with hardly a mark of damage to their hull coatings. Many of Ecospeed’s qualities came to the fore with both M/V Patriot and M/V Karin during their varied routes. The Patriot has spent two entire winters sailing through icy Baltic conditions, yet the hull coating of this vessel is entirely intact. Ecospeed is extremely resilient and consists of glass platelets embedded in a tough resin to provide a hard, flexible and durable protection layer that gives superior mechanical resistance to the hull. The M/V Karin operates in warm waters between North America, the Caribbean and South America. Since the application, two inspections have been done by the ship’s crew and the underwater hull was found to be free of fouling demonstrating the effectiveness of Ecospeed’s non -- stick properties. Two of the key advantages to Ecospeed are: • the long-lasting protection it provides with no need for repainting every few years, as with traditional hull coatings and • the smooth surface finish that gives improved fuel consumption and higher speeds. The previous hull paint was found in poor condition when entering the dry dock. Paint detachments back to bare steel were found in different locations over the entire hull. The application was performed at Western Shipyard, Lithuania, with the company Premator contracted to carry out the application. A thorough grit blasting of the entire ship was performed to rid the hull of all paint layers and once complete, the two coats required over the 1700m2 underwater area were finished within a total application time of 10 hours -- all to the trademark high quality necessary for Subsea to give its 10 year warranty. Both the shipyard and the contractors did an excellent job, much to the satisfaction of the customer who will now see M/V Phantom enjoying the same protection and advantages that Ecospeed already endowed upon M/V Karin, M/V Patriot and many other vessels around the world. For further information please contact: Kristof Adam Phone: 32 3 213 5318 Fax: 32 3 213 5321 e-mail: kadam@subind.net www.ecospeed.be