International. The owner and operator of luxury cruise line Silversea appointed Hempel to offer innovative coating solutions for its new 40,700 GT Silver Muse cruise ship. Along with high-quality performance, it was vital to Silversea that its coatings deliver fuel savings and minimize maintenance costs.
Silver Muse was built at the Fincantieri shipyard in Genoa Sestri Ponente and delivered on 3 April.
Silversea was impressed with Hempel's understanding of the cruise industry and the growing pressure to improve operational efficiency, while meeting strict environmental standards. This led the company to select the advanced Hempaguard X7 coating to protect the hull of its new vessel.
Hempaguard X7 uses an advanced combination of hydrogel silicone and a biocide that prevents effective fouling in a single layer. This technology releases 95 percent less biocide than traditional antifoulings, providing higher environmental performance. Significant fuel economy of six percent compared to best-in-class antifoulings throughout the coupling interval maximizes operational efficiency. The effectiveness of Hempaguard X7 over an extended coupling interval of up to 90 months helps minimize maintenance costs.
Kim Scheibel, Group Director Marine/Container, Hempel New Building commented: "Silver Muse will be marketed mainly in the warm waters of the Mediterranean, which tend to encourage fouling. Cruise ships operate unique trading patterns that involve a combination of slow and fast steam, as well as regular periods throughout. An effective helmet coating must be relied upon to provide flexible protection. Hempaguard provides excellent scaling resistance for idle periods of up to 120 days and retains its effectiveness at all passing speeds."
Roberto Martinoli, CEO of Silversea, said: "At Silversea we are fully committed to operating in the most efficient manner and with minimal impact on the marine environment. Hempaguard not only promises to deliver fuel savings that will help us contain our costs, but will also help us reduce CO2 emissions. We are honored that Silver Muse has received the voluntary notation Rina Green Plus, which is based on an environmental performance index that covers all aspects of the ship's impact on the environment, including carbon emissions."
The application of the entire coating system on the hull lasted only four days. Other products applied to the Silver Muse include Hempathane TC 55210 (a two-component glossy acrylic polyurethane coating) for external surfaces and external surfaces, Hempadur Quattro 17634 (a two-component universal IMO PSPC epoxy compatible coating), for ballast tanks; Hempadur 35560 (Epoxy coating cured with two-component polyamine adduct and without solvents) for drinking water tanks; and Hempadur 85671 (a two-component adduct cured phenolic epoxy coating (novolac)) for grey water tanks.
