NEWS
Hatch Cover Refurbishment Made Simple

29 hatch covers required to be completely refurbished as they were showing signs of severe corrosion and impact damage. The client was looking for a cost-effective way in which the repair work could be undertaken.

Chemco offered a unique solution whereby the hatch covers could remain in-situ whilst both the surface preparation and coating repair works were carried out. This is a completely unique solution to the entire coatings industry.

There would be no encapsulation of the hatch covers due to large costs and setup times; therefore grit blasting and the spraying of the coatings were not permissible. Additionally, during the hatch cover painting works, painting/blasting of other areas and steel cutting/welding occurred simultaneously nearby. There was also a lot of wind and rain spells during the refurbishment works.

A mixture of water jetting and mechanical preparation was used as the surface preparation methods. One touch up coat of solvent-free, wet & rust tolerant epoxy Epo-chem™ RS 500P was then applied. This was followed by one touch up coat and one full coat of solvent-free, wet tolerant glassflake epoxy Epo-chem™ RA 500M.

17 of the 29 hatch covers were refurbished by the shipyard with the other 12 being treated by the ships crew. Significant time and cost savings were achieved by completing this project with the hatch covers in-situ and also as there was no disruption to the painting works due to weather conditions or other ongoing work nearby.

The following is a list of all the benefits received by the client by using this unique solution provided by Chemco:

• Solvent-free, wet & rust tolerant solution
• No grit blasting requirements
• No disruption to other ongoing work (inc. hot work)
• No encapsulation of hatch covers
• No humidity or dew point restrictions
• Good UV resistance