Petrochemical company Shell, one of the largest chemical charterers in the industry, will charter all eight vessels. The ships will transport a range of Shell chemical products for its customers in various regions of the world.

According to David J. Keehan, President of Advanced Polymer Coatings, “This Shell Project Solar brings together a diverse group of companies with Shell as the manufacturer of a wide range of industrial chemicals and the long-term time charterer of the vessels, then Shandong Shipping as the owner and operator of the tankers, then New Times Shipyard as the builder of the vessels, and finally, APC providing its patented MarineLINE tank coating, along with application inspection, and full heat curing services. It will be a team effort to have these vessels ready within the next year.”

Keehan pointed out that Shandong Shipping specifically recommended the MarineLINE coating to Shell’s technical management team over competitive cargo tank coating alternatives because of MarineLINE’s long-term performance features, versatility to carry a wide range of aggressive cargoes, and eco-friendly easy cleaning attributes.

These eight new ships will be added to the order book at New Times Shipyard, which has established itself as a leader in applying the MarineLINE cargo tank coating to a number of other similar MR tanker constructions in progress and already completed at the yard, such as the fleet of new build tankers for Navig8. There is a very good working relationship with the New Times Shipyard and the team of MarineLINE coating inspectors and heat curing specialists.

MarineLINE is based on a unique polymer-based formulation that provides a virtually impermeable surface to handle aggressive cargoes. Today, the lining is in operation protecting hundreds of chemical and product tankers carrying aggressive chemical cargos, CPPs, edible oil, and thousands of other chemicals.

For more information on MarineLINE, visit www.adv-polymer.com.