Marine coatings company Nippon Paint Marine has reached agreement with RightShip to join its Zero Harm Innovation Partners Programme as a strategic partner and drive forward a shared commitment to innovation in decarbonisation and vessel efficiency, and to promote transparent ESG reporting in the maritime industry.
Nippon Paint Marine has submitted its low-friction hull coating products Aquaterras, Fastar and A-LF-Sea for review by RightShip, which assessed their potential to support vessel emissions reduction. The agreement between Nippon Paint Marine and RightShip will include the sharing and validation of data covering coating and operational performance areas, such as hull roughness and emissions reduction. As the shipping industry strives for net-zero around 2050, collaboration across the sector is expected to be important for enabling the adoption of effective innovation.
Included in the agreement are three of Nippon Paint Marine’s hull coatings, which each can provide fuel savings of more than 14% compared with market average conventional hull coatings and help to cut emissions. Aquaterras features patented polymer technology and hydrophilic and hydrophobic micro-domain structures to deliver biocide free fouling protection. Fastar and A-LF-Sea both feature Nippon Paint Marine’s patented HydroSmoothXT technology, a hydrogel which traps water against the hull surface to reduce friction, energy use and emissions.
Gladys Goh, President, Nippon Paint Marine, said: “Delivering the shipping industry’s objective of net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 sustainably will require a collaborative effort across the sector. Innovation doesn’t happen overnight. Our R&D teams have invested many decades to develop and deliver effective solutions for our customers. With the right information available to them through programs that promote data transparency, shipowners can be confident of adopting new technologies that will move them quickly and effectively towards our industry’s goal. We are very proud to be working with RightShip to enable transparency in the sector and support shipowners on their journey towards a zero-harm maritime industry.”
Delivering hull coatings that reduce the environmental impact of operations while protecting the vessel is considered important to achieving a sustainable, zero-harm maritime industry. Nippon Paint Marine continues to innovate coatings that can be tailored to the operational needs of the shipowner while ensuring environmental and operational performance to advance a safer and more sustainable maritime industry. Since launching its low-friction hull coatings, Nippon Paint Marine says it has helped customers’ vessels to achieve 45m tonnes of CO2e savings.
Image: Ajinkya Kadam, Director, RightShip, and Gladys Goh, Nippon Paint Marine (source: Nippon Paint)
