In the search for new tools to help improve the performance of in-service vessels, Pacific Basin, a leading dry bulk shipping company, has decided to apply a sustainable graphene-based propeller coating starting with the rollout on 40 ships as it moves to full fleet adoption. The company reports it will be the largest adoption in the dry bulk sector building of efforts by others including Stolt Tankers and Eastern Pacific Shipping.
“Since 2007, we have been coating our vessels’ propellers with silicone paint to proactively maintain a smooth propeller surface and avoid the frequent need for polishing to recover lost performance,” explains Sanjay Relan, the General Manager of Optimisation & Decarbonisation at Pacific Basin. “However, we have not been able to avoid edge damages to the silicone coating on the propellers, which requires the entire propeller coating to be stripped and reapplied at every docking.”
The company reports it has tested the coating manufactured by a Canadian company, GIT Coatings, observing positive results on one of its Supramax dry bulk vessels. They believe the new coating will maintain a damage-free, smooth propeller surface and improve efficiency over longer periods for the vessels.