Lick of paint cuts Navy carbon footprint

Sep 10 2009 by Andrew Mernin, The Journal

THE Royal Navy has turned to the produce of North East scientists as it looks to reduce its carbon footprint.

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has called in International Paint for more of its fuel saving, high-tech paint, which was developed at the Akzo Nobel-owned plant in Gateshead.

The Navy’s flagship HMS Ark Royal – which was originally built on Tyneside – has had her hull coated in the latest ‘foul release’ paint, which is expected to help the vessel reduce fuel consumption by around 9%.

The 20,600ton Invincible Class aircraft carrier was painted at Portsmouth Naval Dockyard.

International Paint’s Intersleek 900 has been applied to a range of naval vessels including a Type 42 destroyer, six minesweepers, three new T45 destroyers, a helicopter carrier, a landing ship and a frigate.

Anti-fouling technology can save huge levels of fuel by preventing marine life from attaching itself to the hull of ships.

According to International Paint, if ships didn’t use anti-fouling coatings, fuel consumption would increase by as much as 40%. Matthew Goodall, International Paint’s UK Navy account manager, said. “We already supply Intersleek 900 to a number of world navies, which have confirmed substantial fuel savings, cuts in emissions and other in-service performance benefits. HMS Ark Royal is an icon and deserves the very best in coating technology.”