Jotun’s Hull Performance Solutions (HPS) has announced a new money back guarantee for shipowners and managers who purchase their SeaQuantum X200 antifouling coating.
If application of Jotun’s coating does not deliver less than 1.5% speed loss or a maximum 4.5 per cent increase in fuel consumption over a 60 months dry-docking interval, customers can get their money back.
The measurements for Jotun’s guarantee are calculated using their transparent measurement and analysis tool. The measurement tool combines information from torsion meters, speed through water, wind and draft, isolating the impact of hull and antifouling coatings on fuel consumption.
Once logged, the data is analysed to calculate the hull condition, creating a new standard in hull performance analysis.
Bjorn Wallentin, Global Sales Director at Joton Marine HPS, says that HPS was developed in part to help shipowners and managers make sense of different claims made by marine coatings suppliers.
“There is a lot of information out there, and with different marine coatings suppliers offering guarantees based on different metrics and over different time periods, we recognised a demand for a truly transparent and independent methodology to calculate hull and fuel performance over time,” Wallentin says. “We wanted to offer a guarantee based on a methodology that was every bit as good as SeaQuantum X200.”
Jotun has identified four significant factors that contribute to hull performance. Some improve hull performance, while others contribute to speed loss.
Wallentin explains that some marine coatings suppliers base their guarantees on hull performance before and shortly after docking. “Timing is important, because hull performance will improve dramatically after blasting and recoating — regardless of what marine coating system is applied,” he says. “Our focus is the period between dockings, when it is the performance of the coatings system in operation that counts and not the hull treatment at the yard.”
In a study conducted by the independent Norwegian Marine Technology Research Institute (Marintek), the average speed loss for the industry is calculated at five per cent for the 60 months lifetime of an antifouling coating. By calculating the extra fuel required to maintain speed over time, the figure equates to an approximately 15 per cent increase in fuel consumption. Jotun’s guarantee is based on maximum average speed loss of 1.5 per cent over 60 months.
Jotun tracks the performance over a period of three to 12 months, beginning when the vessel exits the dry dock, to establish benchmark performance. Each day measurements will be collected, and any deviation from the post-docking benchmark will be logged. These deviations will be averaged and compared with the maximum average speed loss at the end of each year. A comprehensive summary will be delivered to the owner or charterer annually and at the end of the guarantee period.
Based on this long-term post-docking data, Jotun will guarantee a maximum average (additional) speed loss for the lifetime of the solution. In the event that the actual performance average falls below the guaranteed hull performance, Jotun will compensate the owner with a guarantee related to the total antifouling system cost. On larger vessels this could represent a significant rebate.
Wallentin acknowledges that the solution and guarantee may not be attractive for all vessels and all trades, but that the methodology behind HPS serves as a useful tool for all owners and charterers seeking improved data on hull performance. “What makes HPS unique is that the process is fully transparent,” says Wallentin. “Owners and charterers will have access to the hull performance data throughout the guarantee period. Instead of a snapshot of vessel performance after dry docking, they get the full picture.”
At present, Jotun is working with the Norwegian class society Det Norske Veritas (DNV) to verify the HPS system. “Our methodology takes some of the mystery and the marketing out of the marine coatings industry,” says Wallentin. “We believe the industry will welcome a more transparent and verifiable tool, which can help them make sense of all the often confusing claims, data and guarantees offered by competing coating suppliers.”
Wallentin welcomes constructive feedback from all interested parties to help fine-tune Jotun’s data collection and analysis methods. “We believe that it is in everyone’s interest to develop and introduce a hull performance standard.”
