Turkey’s Iskenderun Ship Management has provided a first reference for Nippon Paint Marine’s new self-polishing antifouling paint FASTAR following an agreement to apply the novel coating to five bulk carriers scheduled to drydock in China this year.

The Panamax ships Ata-M and Toros-M will drydock at COSCO’s Guangzhou shipyard in May and June respectively, with the 31,700dwt Selin-M, 32,949dwt Nihat-M, and the 50,212dwt Bozburun-M scheduled to follow in the second half of the year.

FASTAR XI, which incorporates Nippon’s hydro-gel technology, will be applied to all five vessels, replacing competitors’ schemes on two – Ata-M and Toros-M. These hulls will be spot blasted and sealed with Nippon Paint Marine’s A/C II system prior to application.

In addition to antifouling, Nippon’s high-performance abrasion and corrosion resistant Neoguard Toughness will be applied to protect the cargo holds, decks, hatch covers and coamings of all five vessels.

“Nippon’s coatings expertise has consistently provided excellent, reliable results across our fleet,” said Iskenderun Fleet Manager Captain Cahit Kayabolen.

“The performance and fuel savings achieved with recent A-LF Sea applications gave us the confidence to choose FASTAR. We are sure this new nano-domain antifouling will further enhance the propulsion and environmental efficiency of these ships.”

FASTAR, developed to reduce the volume of paint required without detriment to performance, was officially introduced to the market in January this year.

It is designed to deliver an approximate 8% reduction in fuel consumption and CO₂ from a coating that benefits from reduced film thickness and lower polishing rates.

Captain Baybora Yildirim, Managing Director, Nippon Paint Marine (Turkey), said: “We are delighted that our first commercial reference for this ground-breaking technology is with a vessel operating under Iskenderun’s technical management.

“Iskenderun, a long-standing customer for Nippon Paint Marine, has a history of investing in solutions designed to improve environmental efficiency. The company selected FASTAR due to its ability to reduce emissions and deliver greater asset protection, even during lay-up periods.”

Niko Yamanoue, Deputy Managing Director, Nippon Paint Marine (Europe), added: “While the benefits of the FASTAR system vary depending on vessel size and operational profile FASTAR can reduce more than 50% of biocide elution than conventional SPCs.”

According to Yamanoue, application to more than twenty vessels during trials indicated the total minimum drying time can be reduced by up to 37%, compared to other coating systems, depending on the actual ambient temperature during application.

“We expect this to result in significant operational savings for Iskenderun,” he said.

Ahmet Hamza, General Coordinator, Iskenderun Ship Management, said: “As a ship operator the lower volume of paint required was very appealing as it reduces drydock time. It also results in a substantial reduction of Volatile Organic Compound (VOC) emissions during application.”

All Nippon Paint Marine’s antifouling paints, including FASTAR, can be applied simply using standard application equipment. They can also be applied over existing antifouling paints, but like any marine coating, work best when the underwater area has been blasted.