PPG Industries' (NYSE:PPG) protective and marine coatings (PMC) business showcased its comprehensive marine coating products portfolio and discussed implementation of the International Maritime Organization's Performance Standard for Protective Coatings (PSPC) with attendees of Marintec China 2009 - the all-China marine technology conference and exhibition here, Dec. 1-4.
PPG provides high-performance marine coatings products that help protect customers' assets in some of the world's most demanding conditions and environments, helping them to build vessels that comply with marine regulations. The new IMO Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) regulation amendment for PSPC, for example, aims to improve the quality and application of protective coating systems in ships' water ballast tanks (WBTs). The standard calls for shipyards, coatings manufacturers, ship owners and classification societies to ensure that protective coating systems in dedicated WBTs are qualified, applied and inspected during a ship's construction. PPG's conference lecture on PSPC drew many show attendees from local shipyards.
"PSPC is beginning to be adopted in China, and compliance requires good understanding of the regulation, good quality-assurance and -control procedures, and close cooperation between shipyards and coatings suppliers," said Benjamin Tan, general manager, PPG PMC Asia/Pacific. "PPG can provide PSPC-approved products, such as shopprimers and epoxy WBT coatings tested to the stringent requirements of the standard, and it offers field technical service engineers qualified to PSPC requirements who can provide advice and assistance in assessing surface preparation and coating application as well as making the measurements required for the coatings technical file, or CTF."
During Marintec, PPG showcased products such as SigmaPrime coatings, which were applied to the first vessel built and coated to comply with PSPC, at the DSME Okpo Shipyard in Korea for Chandris of Greece. With SigmaPrime coatings, shipyards can benefit from simplified specification, reduced stock and consumption, increased production speed, and improved application quality. The coatings also offer ship owners long-term anticorrosive protection, a simplified specification and inspection routine, high quality, simple maintenance and reduced maintenance costs.
"We know how important it is to apply and maintain coatings in good condition in key parts of a vessel, such as the sea-water ballast tank, and we fully support this initiative to improve industrywide safety standards with PSPC," said Jacques de Coninck, director, PPG global marine coatings. "We are happy to be here at Marintec in Shanghai and to meet experts in the Chinese marine industry. We have seen considerable volume growth in our protective and marine coatings in Asia, and we're committed to supporting the Chinese shipbuilding industry in implementing this standard."
PPG is a world leader in protective and marine coatings. Its PMC products protect customers' assets in some of the world's most demanding conditions and environments, covering projects in markets such as energy, infrastructure and marine. Featured PPG PMC brands include Sigma Coatings and Amercoat coatings.