Nippon Paint Marine and RightShip agree on environmental cooperation

MARINE coatings business Nippon Paint Marine has announced it has agreed with RightShip to join its Zero Harm Innovation Partners Program as a strategic partner. 

This is part of an effort to bring about innovation in decarbonisation and vessel efficiency and to promote transparent environmental, social and governance (ESG) reporting in the maritime sector.  

Nippon Paint Marine has submitted its low-friction hull coating products AQUATERRAS, FASTAR and A-LF-Sea for review by RightShip, which assessed their potential to support reduction in vessel emissions. \

The agreement is to include the sharing and validation of data covering coating and operational performance areas, such as hull roughness and emissions reduction. 

Included in the agreement are three of Nippon Paint Marine’s leading hull coatings, which are said to provide fuel savings of more than 14% compared with market average conventional hull coatings and help to cut emissions. 

Nippon Paint Marine president Gladys Goh said delivering the shipping industry’s objective of net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 sustainably would require “a collaborative effort across the sector”. 

“Innovation doesn’t happen overnight. Our R&D teams have invested many decades to develop and deliver effective solutions for our customers,” Ms Goh said. 

“With the right information available to them through programs that promote data transparency, shipowners can be confident of adopting new technologies that will move them quickly and effectively towards our industry’s goal.” 

Ms Goh said they were “very proud to be working with RightShip to enable transparency in the sector and support shipowners on their journey towards a zero-harm maritime industry”.  

According to NPM, delivering hull coatings that reduce the environmental impact of operations while protecting the vessel “is crucially important to achieving a sustainable, zero-harm maritime industry”. 

“Nippon Paint Marine continues to innovate coatings that can be tailored to the operational needs of the shipowner while ensuring environmental and operational performance,” Ms Goh said. 

“Since launching its low-friction hull coatings, Nippon Paint Marine has helped customers’ vessels to achieve 45 million tonnes of CO2 emissions savings.”