USA-based ship tank coating manufacturer Advanced Polymer Coatings (APC) has won a new deal to supply two new chemical tankers being built in Turkey.

APC Global Marine Manager, Captain Onur Yildirim, said its Turkish division begins work this month applying APC’s MarineLINE coating system on the projects. The new build vessels are the 8000 DWT Basaran Bayrak NB 80 a chemical/oil tanker being built for the Ceksan shipowner at its Ceksan shipyard in Tuzla and the 6000 DWT NB 68 Sedat Basak, a tanker being built for Turkish shipowner Atako Shipping and its partner Nakkas Shipping at the Gisan shipyard also in Tuzla.

Captain Yildirim said the projects will be led by their Turkish Marine Sales Manager Koray Karagoz supported by APC’s 14-strong team at its Tuzla office as well as APC’s head office in Cleveland, Ohio.

“APC has been operating in Turkey since 2001 and we have a really experienced talented team which have coated and repaired 450 different chemical tankers in Turkey,” he said. “APC now has around 80 per cent of the Turkish tank coating market and as a result it is one of our top export destinations and we really look forward to undertaking these jobs. Each contract will see us coat the ships’ cargo tanks and slop tanks with MarineLINE along with application inspection, and full heat curing services.”
Captain Yildirim said APC won the latest deals due to having a committed long-term presence in Turkey combined with the quality of MarineLINE and its broad range of benefits.

“The low absorption characteristics and highly glossy surface of MarineLINE allow operators to reduce overall tank cleaning times, which in turn helps reduce fuel consumption and GHG emissions associated with hot water production”, he said. “This, together with the cargo versatility and flexibility that MarineLINE offers over its competitors, is giving us a real edge. What we mean by versatility is ease of cleaning between different cargoes, meaning operators can switch grades more frequently and easily, with significantly less risk of cross contamination. These are key advantages in the chemical tanker market, where vessels can be expected to transport a wide variety of chemicals.”

The latest Turkish jobs follow another new deal for APC with Chinese shipowner Shandong to supply a fleet of 50,000 DWT medium range tankers to be chartered by Shell as part of its Shell Project Solar programme.

APC grew its maritime sales by 40 per cent in 2021 with 56 ships coated equating to over 750,000 sq m of MarineLINE applied. APC reports it now accounts for more than 12 per cent of the global cargo tank coating market. Exports are underpinning APC’s growth with key markets including China, the Gulf, Croatia, as well as Turkey.