NEWS
Ballast Tank Refurbishment in South Africa

The ballast tanks of the M/V AUXIS required a full refurbishment (over 6000m²) after the original coatings had failed.

Some areas of the ballast tanks were heavily corroded with limited access.

There was also a very limited timescale for completion of this project and as a result, grit blasting was not permissible. The surfaces of the ballast tanks were water jetted to WJ-3 standards.

Once the surface preparation was complete, one stripe coat of solvent-free, wet & rust tolerant Epo-chem™ RS 500P was applied.

Upon completion of the stripe coating, one full coat of Epo-chem™ RS 500P was applied @200µ DFT. In some areas where most of the existing coating was still adherent, one primer coat of Epo-chem™ RS 500P in all the bare steel areas was applied, followed by one topcoat of solvent-free, wet tolerant Epo-chem™ RA 500M applied @ 250µ DFT.

This project was completed within the given time-frame and to the satisfaction of all concerned. Utilising this Chemco system for ballast tank refurbishment offers our clients many benefits:

• Environmentally friendly system (no grit blasting, solvent-free)
• Odourless
• Reduced Health & Safety and fire precautions
• No humidity or dew point restrictions
• No delays
• No disruption to other ongoing hot work