Seven Danaos-managed containerships recoated with Nippon Paints Marine antifouling

Nippon Paint Marine has completed the recoating of seven Danaos-managed containerships, with the last two vessels in the series, the 8,463 TEU Phoebe and the 6,500 TEU CMA CGM Moliere, leaving dry dock in June.

The first vessel in the series, the 13,100TEU Hyundai Honour, left dry dock in January, followed in May by sisters Hyundai Respect, Hyundai Smart, and Hyundai Ambition, and the 366 meter Hyundai Speed in June.

Five of the seven vessels received applications of Nippon’s A-LF Sea antifouling system during scheduled drydockings at Zhoushan Changhong Shipyard in China. Each hull was fully blasted prior to application during a 60-month drydocking interval.

Nippon Paint Marine has an extensive track record with Danaos, having applied its A-LF Sea antifouling system to almost half the shipmanager’s 60-vessel fleet.

Theodosis Dimopoulos, General Manager of Nippon Paint Marine (Europe), said: “Danaos, which manages one of the world’s largest fleet of modern containerships, is a company dedicated to innovation, safety, efficiency, and environmental responsibility. This commitment to energy and environmental efficiency is manifest in the decision to use our hull coatings.”

Commenting on the coating’s fouling protection and fuel saving performance, Danaos’ DCOO & Technical Director, Vastarouchas Dimitrios, said: “As a leader in container shipping, it is vitally important to all at Danaos that we do everything we can to reduce the impact of our operations on the environment. Based on many years’ experience with Nippon Paint Marine, we have found A-LF Sea contributes positively to reduced drag and, consequently, lower fuel consumption and fewer CO2 emissions.

In addition to A-LF Sea, Danaos operates vessels with Nippon’s low friction antifouling Ecoloflex SPC 150 HyB coating. The company is also considering Nippon Paint Marine’s new Aquaterras coating as a way of further reducing the impact of operations on the marine environment.

“Based on the performance and experience gained from our other products, Danaos offered us the opportunity to present our revolutionary biocide-free antifouling Aquaterras,” said Dimopoulos. “The company expressed interest in the product for future application and we currently have a test patch applied on one of its vessels.”

A-LF Sea is based on patented copper silyl acrylate copolymer technology with a high volume of solids to provide excellent antifouling performance over long periods. It is proven to deliver measurable hull friction reduction of up to 10%.

The coating can be applied over existing coatings or as a newbuild application, and, to date, has been applied to more than 3,000 ships worldwide.