Commissioned in 2008, the USS Freedom went to dry dock last year after its existing coating system failed. The ship’s builder, Lockheed Martin; coatings contractor and applicator, YYK Enterprises Inc., National City, CA; and the U.S. Navy specified a two-coat paint system by PPG as replacement. The new system incorporated one coat of Amercoat 240 edge-retentive epoxy from the water line to the rail and a finish coat of PSX 700SG epoxy-polysiloxane coating from the water line to the topside interface.

PSX 700SG coating features unlimited recoatability for easy touch-up and maintenance in a color-stable LSA (low solar-absorbing), low-VOC formulation. The coating, which contains no isocyanates and offers superior abrasion resistance, wide cure-temperature flexibility and unique surface tension to minimize rust and dirt streaking, is on the U.S. Navy Qualified Product List (QPL) for topside and freeboard applications. It also complies with U.S. Department of Defense MIL-PRF-24635E, Type V (high-durability), Type VI (high-durability, low-VOC), Class 2 (semi-gloss), Grade B (low solar-absorbing) specifications.

To meet accelerated deadlines for supply and painting, PPG manufactured Amercoat 240 epoxy and four colors of PSX 700SG coating in record time and shipped them from PPG’s Little Rock, AR, facility to YYK’s loading dock in National City within 72 hours. Priming and painting began immediately, and the USS Freedom was returned to service in less than six weeks.