International. The anti-friction properties of Hempaguard help to save on fuel use and therefore on emissions.
The coatings company, Hempel, surpasses a historic number of ships coated with Hempaguard. A 335 m long container ship received the 3000th application of Hempel's flagship hull coating product when it arrived in dry dock at the Beihei Shipyard in China.
Hempel's Executive Vice President of Marine, Alexander Enström, explained why surpassing this milestone is so impactful: "Our customers are looking for technologies that can help them on their path to sustainability. 3,000 Hempaguard applications are equivalent to removing 27 million tons of CO2, which corresponds to 8.6 million tons of fuel saved by having a softer hull."
"The adoption of Hempaguard is growing exponentially. This year alone, we have seen sales of Hempaguard systems grow by 82 percent," Enström added.
"Hempaguard's anti-friction properties help shipowners and charterers save on fuel use and therefore emissions, making it the obvious choice for our customers," he said.
According to the company, with stricter regulations related to decarbonization coming into force in 2023, Hempel sees an increasing range of customers seeking its advice, including an increasing number of operators and owners of bulk carriers, tankers, container ships and cruise ships. "All eager to keep their vessels running next year," the company says.
It also recalls that the new regulations being introduced by the International Maritime Organization are the Carbon Intensity Indicator (IIC) and the Energy Efficiency Index of Existing Ships (EEXI).
Hempel data suggests that around 80% of the global fleet will need to take steps to ensure a good CII rating while reaching the required EEXI. "Ships will be forced out of the market if their owners and operators do not identify and adopt a comprehensive path of emission reduction," the organization estimates.
Calculation method
In the same statement, the company explains that the savings related to the 3000 vessel applications were calculated by estimating the fuel savings of each Hempaguard application against an average coating in the market, based on the average market numbers of the IMO Fourth GHG Study.
"For Hempaguard applications, consumption, activity, duration to the next dry dock and relative savings from the IMO GHG Study are estimated and the impact of the full DD cycle is summarized in the year of Hempaguard application, where the choice of coating is made and, therefore, fuel economy, "says the company.
