NEWS
Chemco Cargo Hold Refurbishment in China

A large cargo hold located on a bulk carrier required to have 10-15% steel replacement, with the remainder of the hold requiring to be recoated during a dry-docking in China.

There could be no disruption to other ongoing maintenance work during the dry-docking. Grit blasting was therefore not permissible and a
solvent-free coating system was required to be applied.

Chemco additionally offered a unique solution whereby a ‘cherry picker’ could be utilised to assist with the surface preparation and coating works. This allowed further time and cost savings to be achieved as scaffolding was not required.

Environmentally friendly water jetting was utilised as the surface preparation method. This was followed by one primer coat of solvent-free, wet & rust tolerant Epo-chem™ RS 500P.

To complete the coating application, one topcoat of solvent-free, wet tolerant, glassflake reinforced Epo-chem™ RA 500M was applied.

Utilising water jetting and a solvent-free coating system ensured that the client achieved substantial time and cost savings as other maintenance work could continue nearby without disruption. This also allowed the vessel to return to charter much quicker than would have been possible utilising conventional paint systems.

The following benefits can be achieved by utilising this unique coating system:

• Solvent-free
• Wet & rust tolerant
• No grit blasting requirements
• No extensive equipment requirements such as scaffolding
• Good chemical and abrasion resistance
• Quicker return to service
• No disruption to other ongoing work (including hot work)
• Can be applied in any environmental condition
• No recoating limitations