Page 41: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (May 2022)

GREEN TECH FEATURE COATINGS

Photos courtesy The Sherwin-Williams Company

Biblia Marine Towing and Transportation will primarily use The Providence, a new 120-foot long, 60-foot wide ? oating dry dock, for hauling tugboats, including its own ? eet and other vessels navigating local waters.

as the company operates across the Sa- tended overcoat window of four days, from sticking to and growing on ves- vannah River from the city’s busy enter- which meant applicators would not have sels. The coating has a moderately high tainment district. to retack the coatings prior to applying concentration loading of cuprous oxide

For the underwater hull, applicators the antifoulant coating if weather delays and a chemically-modi? ed binder that again sprayed the FastClad ER system postponed applications. Traditional sys- only slightly dissolves upon immersion in a single coat at 20 to 30 mils DFT tems would need to be coated with anti- service.

to provide the same additional protec- foulants within a couple of hours. Biblia’s new ? oating dry dock, along tive insurance the robust coating offers For the antifoulant coating, applica- with other upgrades and expansions for on the rest of The Providence. Because tors sprayed two layers of SeaGuard the marine services company, were made the hull will be constantly submerged, Copper Bottom Antifouling Paint #45 possible by a $1.3 million grant from the the use of an antifoulant coating was at 3 to 5 mils DFT each. This single- U.S. Department of Transportation that also warranted. In the spirit of ensuring component formulation is designed for supported improvements at 28 small long-term maintenance intervals, Sher- use on shallow draft vessels that sit for shipyards across the U.S. The company win-Williams recommended using an extended periods of time with insuf? - is protecting the investment of that grant epoxy tie coat to provide even stronger cient movement and friction for an abla- money with the added insurance of the adhesion of the antifoulant coating. Ap- tive antifoulant coating to be effective. long-lasting FastClad ER coating cover- plied at 4 to 6 mils DFT, the SeaGuard® Instead, the coating forms a very hard ing nearly the entire square footage of

Tie Coat gave Conrad Shipyard an ex- barrier that prevents marine biofouling The Providence.

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