Nippon Paint Marine has signed a long-term supply contract with Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings (NCLH) to provide antifouling systems to 13 cruise ships.
The ships operate under the Norwegian Cruise Line, Oceania Cruises, and Regent Seven Seas Cruises brands.
This agreement, signed late last year, will see the coatings specialist apply its low-friction SPC antifouling, A-LF-Sea, to six Oceania vessels, five Regent Seven Seas Cruises vessels and Norwegian Cruise Lines ships ‘Norwegian Epic’ and ‘Norwegian Dawn’.
A-LF Sea has already been applied during 11 drydockings, while three vessels, ‘Marina’, ‘Nautica’ and ‘Norwegian Epic’ will be coated during their scheduled drydockings later this year.
The fleet-wide contract follows the performance success of the low-friction self-polishing copolymer originally applied to vessels under individual agreements.
“Due to the impressive performance of A-LF-Sea in the past, we decided to broaden the scope of supply to half the Norwegian fleet with a more formal, long-term agreement,” said Carlo Paiella, NCLH’s Vice President, Technical Operations. “Nippon’s technical service and worldwide supply capabilities complement the excellent fuel-saving performance we have seen from this low-friction paint.
“As leaders in the cruise ship sector, we believe it is vitally important to do all we can to mitigate against any operations that may influence global climate change. The use of A-LF-Sea has helped towards our ships meeting the very stringent emissions reduction targets we have set,” he added.
In December, 2019, the company’s LF-Sea hull coating system won the 2020 Japanese Government Award for Global Warming Prevention Activity.
The judges found that the use of the coating contributed to reduced drag, consequently resulting in lower fuel consumption and reduced CO2 emissions from those vessels to which the hull coating has been applied.
John Drew, Nippon Paint Marine Europe Director, said: “We are proud that Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings has selected Nippon Paint Marine as its preferred coatings supplier for these vessels. Norwegian’s requirements are understandably extremely demanding but thanks to its forward planning, together with the reliability and performance of this coating, these vessels will benefit from greater fuel and operational efficiencies.
“A-LF-Sea has been successful in assisting the Oceania Cruises and Regent Seven Seas Cruises fleets in coping with changes in their itineraries and providing predictable and effective protection from fouling in all the geographical areas in which these vessels operate,” he said.
The 13 vessels to which A-LF-Sea has or will be applied are Oceania Cruises’ ‘Insignia’, ‘Marina’, ‘Nautica’, ’Regatta’, ‘Riviera’, and ‘Sirena’; ‘Seven Seas Explorer’, ‘Seven Seas Mariner’, ‘Seven Seas Navigator’, ‘Seven Seas Splendor’, and ‘Seven Seas Voyager’; and NCL’s ‘Norwegian Epic’ and ‘Norwegian Dawn’.
Nippon Paint Marine is also working with NCLH on the verification testing and performance monitoring of its biocide free hull coating Aquaterras. A test patch has been fitted to an undisclosed cruise ship and the results are being benchmarked against a conventional biocide coatings.
“The cruise industry has been an early proponent of this ground-breaking technology,” Drew explained. “Like other cruise lines, Norwegian also recognises that Aquaterras is a hugely significant breakthrough in the antifouling market, providing similar levels of performance to those systems containing biocides, such as cuprous oxide.”
Nippon Paint, which has been active in the cruise market since 2011, said that it expects to apply its low-friction hull coatings to its 70th cruise ship later this year.
