AkzoNobel Coatings Protect China’s New Polar Icebreaker
AMSTERDAM — China recently launched its first domestically built polar icebreaker, Xue Long 2, and to help protect it from harsh Arctic and Antarctic conditions, they turned to an industry-leading coatings solution supplied by AkzoNobel.
Purpose-built to cope with thick ice sheets and the extreme challenges of polar exploration, the 12,366-ton research vessel is coated with Intershield 163 Inerta 160 from the International® product range. The tried and tested abrasion resistant system has a proven 47-year track record of performing in temperatures as low as -50 °C and has already been used on more than 1,600 ships and icebreakers around the world.