U-Ming Marine has taken delivery of the second Very Large Ore Carrier (VLOC) with a protective hull coating from Nippon Marine Paint to reduce fuel consumption and emissions.
Delivered in December from Beihai Shipbuilding Heavy Industry’s shipyard in Qingdao, China, the vessel Grand Wisdom is the second in a pair of eco-friendly bulkers to join the owner’s 48-strong fleet. Sistership Grand Pioneer, delivered in August, represented the Taipei-headquartered shipowner’s entry into the VLOC market.
Motoi Takeuchi, chairman, Nippon Paint Marine (Taiwan), said: “Our A-LF Sea coating has been supporting U-Ming’s corporate social responsibility objectives for several years now, having been applied to almost half the vessels in the shipowner’s fleet.
“That A-LF-Sea was specified for Grand Pioneer and Grand Wisdom, the 19th and 20th vessels in the U-Ming fleet to operate a Nippon Paint Marine hull protection system, underscores the coating’s capacity to improve efficiency, reduce fuel consumption and lower emissions.”
At 339.9m long, with a width of 62m, the 325,000dwt sisters – U-Ming’s first ever VLOCs – will operate under a 25-year Contract of Affreightment (COA) awarded by Vale International. The vessels will transport Brazilian iron ore to China.
In addition to the advanced hull coating system, each state-of-the-art vessel features LNG-ready MAN propulsion engines and exhaust gas cleaning systems designed to meet IMO emissions abatement requirements.
Nippon Paint Marine Europe director John Drew said: “With ultra-low fuel consumption and, consequently, emissions – optimised by the A-LF Sea application – these vessels can deliver a greener, competitive advantage to U-Ming customers.
“The combined effect of Nippon’s enhanced hydro-gel technology and the lower surface roughness from our rheology control technology leads to a proven 15 per cent plus reduction in frictional resistance compared to other antifouling paints. It now pays to be green!”