PPG Releases Copper Free Antifouling Coating

PPG Industries has released a range of copper free antifoulings called Sigma Nexeon. The company claims to be the first coatings manufacturer to successfully market a range of copper-free antifoulings for commercial vessels.

Sijmen Visser, PPG global marketing manager, marine, protective and marine coatings, said, “At PPG, we are constantly looking for ways to anticipate and evaluate the impact of future trends and legislation. Regulations around the use of copper in antifoulings are the ones to watch, and as a result we have decided to offer now the option to our customers to prepare for this future scenario.”

Sigma Nexeon 710 is an antifouling solution for operational vessels and it can be applied during construction and dry docking. For newbuilds where outfitting takes longer than six months, Sigma Nexeon 750 high-activity copper-free topcoat antifouling is specified. Both products combine unique self-polishing zinc-acrylate binder technology with high performance to help protect ships during the newbuilding process and while in service.

Due to the absence of copper, the levelling and smoothness right after application is significantly improved, delivering better fuel efficiency from the start. Third-party testing with leading universities and test institutes in Korea and Japan has confirmed the properties and performance of the coating and enabled PPG to classify them as low friction antifouling. Another benefit of Sigma Nexeon copper-free antifouling is the cosmetic appearance with no whitening effect.

The Sigma Nexeon antifouling range was recently applied to the underwater hulls of four new-build drill ships, Norbe VIII, Norbe IX, Norbe X and Norbe XI, in operation offshore Brazil for Odebrecht Oil & Gas. Odebrecht wanted to keep the hulls clean from fouling and free from discoloration while stationary in seawater to minimize cleaning costs before delivery to the field.