Expeditionyacht.org

Just received a book I ordered from Hempel, the Danish coating manufacturer (# 3 in the world I think).  Almost 500 pages on corrosion projection serves as the “inspector’s book of reference”.  It’s the translation to English of a Norwegian training guide for certified coating inspectors.  The Norwegians with their maritime history and many oil exploration platforms in the North Sea know a thing or two about corrosion protection .The book covers corrosion itself, protection measures, surface preparation and equipment, pre-treatment, application, paint coating materials but also covers topics like coating failures, thermal spraying, passive fire protection and inspection methods and equipments.  Cathodic protection, both with sacrificial anodes as well as impressed current is also covered in depth. 

To learn more about this form of corrosion protection, check out the informative Cathelco website.  And if you want to know everything there is to know corrosion protection of your ship and about coatings, get ‘the Frisio’ book from Hempel.

Of course, there are also independent coating consulting companies that can provide independent advice and job supervision and inspection.  I found these two companies in the Yacht Report that between the two of them have probably been involved with 50% of all mega yacht paint jobs:

• Conmar Coating Services which has some very good information publications on their website
• Marten Yacht Painting Advice Inspection

I just got back from a visit to Holland  I met with the Herman Jansen folks (designers) and we did some checking onboard to see if our modifications fit as planned.  Although we have a complete set of drawings, there’s always minor details that may vary from ship to ship.  We also did several ultra-sound hull measurements to determine the thickness of the steel.  The forepeak ballast tank had seawater in it and looked pretty rusty.  But, amazingly enough, after wat looked liked 17 years without opening, the loss of material was within a 10% range.  Where the thickness was originally 12 mm, it was now between 10 and 11.3 mm.  Where the plating used to be 8 mm, it was now anywhere from 7.3 to 8. 

Obviously, as you can see on the picture, it needs a little paint job !  I’ll be having a post on paint systems in the near future.  I’m talking with the Hempel folks and a local paint surveyor to determine the best system for our vessel so we can close this tank for another 17 years !

We also looked at the fuel tanks but as expected, they were in ‘like-new’ shape.