Nippon Paint Marine and Lloyd’s Register Advisory signed a technical collaboration agreement to evaluate the in-service speed-loss performance of Nippon Paint Marine’s FASTAR and AQUATERRAS hull coatings. The independent assessment follows the ISO 19030 performance-measurement standard and aims to provide shipowners with validated data on long-term hull coating performance.

The project will include a broad range of vessel types coated with FASTAR or AQUATERRAS, such as container carriers, bulk carriers, tankers, VLCCs, PCCs and cruise vessels. The companies stated that evaluating vessels with different operating profiles is essential for understanding speed loss, fuel implications and emissions reduction across varied service conditions.

Lloyd’s Register’s modelling will combine data sources including noon reports, high-frequency vessel data, AIS tracking and metocean inputs. By isolating environmental resistance factors in accordance with ISO 19030, the analysis will quantify hull degradation and measure coating performance throughout the service period.

Goh Chung Hun, Lloyd’s Register strategic business partner in Singapore, said: “We look forward to working with Nippon Paint Marine to develop this technical collaboration and realize an independent assessment for their hull coating performance. Our technical expertise and impartiality underpin our commitment to delivering analyses to the highest standard.”

Gladys Goh, president of Nippon Paint Marine, said: “We are committed to helping our customers to achieve their net-zero carbon ambitions, and deliver efficiencies and sustainability within their operations. Trust and proof in performance and return on investment is a critical element in driving the uptake of clean technologies across the shipping industry.”

The collaboration will assess both AQUATERRAS, a biocide-free fouling protection coating, and FASTAR, a low-friction self-polishing antifouling coating. Nippon Paint Marine noted that hull coating solutions play an important role in reducing energy consumption and emissions and can be deployed immediately to support decarbonization targets.

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