AMSTERDAM, the Netherlands - Industrial Junkie, a new program launched on the Discovery Channel, features a marine paint produced by AkzoNobel. The series will introduce viewers to AkzoNobel's Intersleek® 900 "go-faster" marine paint during its 10-episode debut season.

 

Each week, the 30-minute program will take a closer look at some of the world's major industrial processes. One episode is being dedicated to the antifouling supplied by AkzoNobel's International Paint brand. It will focus on why shipbuilders use Intersleek 900 to coat their gigantic ocean-going craft and highlight the sheer scale of the work involved.

 

The program featuring AkzoNobel is being screened on Dutch television on July 7. Other countries will follow in due course. Hundreds of millions of homes, in around 60 countries, will find out how Intersleek 900 is applied to some of the world's biggest vessels, and why it plays such a vital role in the unforgiving marine environment.

 

The Discovery Channel approached AkzoNobel last year about the show. Filming for the episode took place over two days in October, when a camera crew visited one of the company's sites in the UK and a shipyard in Germany. During the broadcast, presenter and self-confessed tech-head Jonny Smith will be seen working on a vessel nearly three times the size of the Titanic. "The difference between Industrial Junkie and other previous shows is that I actually help make/build the items in question," Smith explained.

 

Launched in 2007, Intersleek 900 is based on patented fluoropolymer technology. Designed to prevent the build up of marine organisms on ships' hulls, it offers significantly greater fuel savings than those achievable with silicone-based products. Exceptionally smooth, it can also be applied to vessels operating at speeds as low as ten knots.

 

Other programs in the Industrial Junkie series will concentrate on roads, explosives, trucks, aircraft, glass and oil.