Merchant ship Mitsui uses friction-reducing paint on car carriers

On July 25, 2011, Mitsui’s Mitsui announced that it had adopted a paint with low friction between seawater on a new type of transport vessel. This time, the Japanese coating manufacturer, SEAFLO NEO, developed a low-friction bottom paint for Chinese coatings. The commercial ship Mitsui implemented a sea trial with a transport ship and confirmed that the fuel consumption was improved compared to the original.

There are two ships that use the new type of paint. They are the South Japan Shipbuilding and can carry 6,400 car transporters BRILLIANT ACE and ETERNAL ACE. The greatest feature of the new coating is the use of a low viscosity hydrolyzed polymer to form a smooth coated surface. Due to the design that pursues the coating finish effect, frictional resistance with seawater is small. Compared with the original coating, the fuel consumption is expected to reduce by 3-5%.