Major opportunity for coating firms as sulphur cap looms

This may be because they bought a comprehensive performance monitoring system but are not using all of its potential benefits. Meanwhile many ship operators still rely on ‘snapshots’ – once-a-day noon reports.

In the run-up to the IMO’s 2020 sulphur cap, Kjølberg says there are major opportunities for ship managers, owners and charterers to use past data to optimise decision-making on future hull and propeller maintenance strategies and cites continuing strong interest in the company’s hull performance solutions (HPS) programme. This uses comprehensive shipboard data from one of a number of performance monitoring companies to provide Jotun’s own analysts with scope to identify short-term patterns as well as long-term trends. They can then suggest several future maintenance strategies based on budget and a ship’s operating profile.

The HPS system is closely aligned with ISO 19030 which sets out four key performance indicators – drydock performance, in-service performance, maintenance triggers and maintenance effects. This, he insists, does not mean necessarily that the most expensive coatings option is the best choice. A touch-up job could be preferable to a full blast, Kjølberg says, in an overall business context.

The relatively small outlay for a performance monitoring system typically pays back in fuel savings in less than a year. However, this payback period will shorten substantially as fuel prices rise before and after January 2020 when the sulphur cap enters force, Kjølberg predicts.

He also notes interest from fuel-paying charterers. He will not reveal names, but in one deal where bunkers were for charterer’s account, Jotun, owner and charterer sat down together to work out a risk/reward structure. The owner paid for a full hull blast and the charterer bought the paint. Jotun analysts now track the ship’s performance via a third-party’s high-frequency monitoring system.

Jotun’s HPS is now in operation on board close to 900 ships including container vessels, tankers, bulkers and LNG carriers.

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