Steelpaint coats fourth Xiamen Minhua Newbuild as Min Hua 17 approaches Delivery

The 12,000dwt multi-purpose cargo ship, the fourth vessel in the Xiamen Minhua Shipping fleet to use the polyurethane based zinc-rich primer, follows similar applications to Min Hua 9, Min Hua 15 and Min Hua 16. The Fujian Donghai Shipyard built all four vessels.

However, following the success of the first coating in the cargo holds of the 2024-delieverd Min Hua 9, the ship manager expanded the scope on subsequent ships to protect cargo holds, hatch covers and the main deck.

“When we first specified Steelpaint, we wanted to see how the coating would behave in service,” said Li Jianbin, General Manager of Xiamen Minhua Shipping. “What we observed was that the zinc primer remains intact when the topcoat is mechanically damaged, protecting the substrate from corrosion. The crew is better managing coating upkeep without repeated full-area touch-ups, which has reduced maintenance costs by about 50% compared to other types of coatings.”

Operational feedback was also gathered from an inspection of Min Hua 15 after one year of service carrying coal, general stores and containers.

Li Yinlong, head of Steelpaint’s operation in China, who attended the inspection, said the assessment reflected the crew’s direct experience…All four vessels in the series now have tank tops and lower stools/hoppers protected by two 80µm coats of Stelpant-PU-Zinc primer, followed by a 120µm application of a conventional topcoat epoxy. Other areas required only a single Stelpant primer coat.

With its high-solid formulation and finely meshed zinc pigments Stelpant-PU-Zinc can be applied in temperatures ranging from -5°C to +50°C, and with a relative humidity level as high as 98%.

Steelpaint Director Frank Müller said the project demonstrates how coating performance translates into specification decisions.

“In real trading conditions is exactly how coating performance should be evaluated,” he said…Xiamen Minhua Shipping has confirmed that Stelpant will also be applied to a new series of 12,000 and 17,000 dwt multi-purpose cargo newbuildings.

Two other Chinese bulk carrier operators are currently trialling the corrosion protection system.