Page 20: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (December 1997)

STIKEMAN, ELLIOTT

Canadian Barristers & Solicitors

Providing commercial legal services on a global basis with offices in Montreal, Toronto, Ottawa, Calgary, Vancouver,

London, New York, Washington, D.C., Hong Kong, Taipei,

Budapest, Prague, Singapore and Sydney.

Shipping & Insurance Section

Hon. W. David Angus, Q.C.

Vincent M. Prager

Laurent Fortier

Peter J. Cullen

Mireille A. Tabib

Nautical Advisor

Capt. Raymond W. Espley, R.D.

Based in Montreal, specializing in all shipping, insurance, transportation, regulatory and international trade matters. 1155 Rene-Levesque Blvd. W.

Montreal, Quebec

Canada H3B 3V2

Tel: (514) 397-3000

Fax: (514) 397-3222

Circle 301 on Reader Service Card

COASTAL OCEANOGRAPHICS, INC. 11-G Old Indian Trail

Middlefield, CT 06455

Phone: (860) 349-3800

Fax: (860) 349-1982 http://www.coastalo.com 20 Circle 217 on Reader Service Card

R&D PRODUCT PROFILE

Drewgard WB

A technologically advanced\ environmentally friendly solution to hard-film ballast tank protection

Drew Marine has teamed with

Ashland partner Tectyl Industrial

Products in a joint research effort to create an advanced solution for pro- tecting ballast tanks from corrosion.

Since 1939, Tectyl has developed hundreds of corrosion preventative coatings for specialized industrial applications. Tectyl is also reported- ly the largest manufacturer world- wide of protective coatings for cargo containers, and is a major supplier to both the U.S. Navy and barge industry.

The companies set out to develop a single-component, easy-to-use product that would provide long- lasting hard-film protection for bal- last tanks at less cost and inconve- nience than conventional two-part coatings.

Achieving exceptional perfor- mance over rusted metal was made an explicit goal, along with the chal- lenge of meeting environmental requirements of the U.S. Coast

Guard and the International

Maritime Organization (IMO), as well as stringent health and safety standards. Furthermore, the applied product had to be light in color to facilitate inspections and surveys, and to allow better visual control during low-light applica- tions.

The result of this collaboration is

Drewgard WB corrosion preventa- tive. Applied as a white film, this single-component corrosion protec- tion system is designed to deliver hard-coating performance with a normal service life of five years, yet it can be applied over St2 surfaces prepared by hand and power tool cleaning.

Consequently, surface prepara- tion and application can be easily accomplished while alongside or underway, or during planned dry- docking, whichever proves more con- venient. In addition, the product is touted as an environmentally acceptable water-based formulation with low VOCs and a high flash point exceeding 100 degrees C, which helps to minimize health and safety hazards.

Developed specifically for marine use, the unique capabilities of this new ballast tank coating were achieved by modifying two tradition- al chemistries to combine the corro- sion protection properties of a wax with the hard film properties of a synthetic polymer. Using water in place of typical solvents in a propri- etary process, the product is formu- lated as an air-dry wax sulfonate emulsion.

This technology emulsifies the wax components with a synthetic polymer to form a hard film barrier that bonds to the surface of the metal, yet remains flexible to pre- vent cracking and peeling.

Formations of oxides and rust are blocked as long as the barrier remains in place.

The performance achieved by the new technology can help produce significant labor and product economies, beginning with the bene- fit of preparing surfaces without the need to take the vessel out of service.

Sprayed, brushed or rolled onto pre- pared surfaces, and used straight from the container without mixing or thinning, application is designed to reduce labor.

There is no pot life issue, or the product waste associated with it.

The company reports that only one coat is needed to achieve the recom- mended dry-film thickness of four to five mils (100-125 microns).

Within specified temperature and humidity ranges, the film reportedly dries to the touch in less than 45 minutes, and cures completely with- in 72 hours.

For more information on Drew Marine

Circle 65 on Reader Service Card

Maritime Reporter/Engineering News

HYPACK for WINDOWS

The HYPACK series of advanced design progi continues to build on [he Coastal Oceanoerapf reputation for reiiability, accuracy, and fast, world-wide service. 'rams hies

HYPACK Hydrographic Software gives'you the hydrographic power to lay out survey lines, create plotting sheets, and design cross sectional profiles in a flasn. Graphically review your survey data and create new planned lines. Customize your screen sizes. Input up to nine devices, simultaneously.

Have single and multibeam data collection capability at your fingertips. Display and edit tracklines, sounding profiles and text data. Apply tide, draft, neave-pitch-roll and sound velocity corrections.

Plus: Full DXF/DGN Support. Plotting, including smooth sheets. The ability to create cross section profiles of multibeam ana longitudinal data. And a complete look at your Volumes, including average end area, prismoidal, contour and TIN models.

HYPACK's Survey Program

HYPACK's TIM Modeling Program