Wim Van Ecke News

For as long as men have traveled and traded by water-routes, ice has been a nemesis for ships and their hulls. And with good reason since, on average, sea ice covers about 25 million square kilometers (9,652,553 square miles) of the planet—amounting to about two-and-a-half times the area of Canada. To wage ice battle, even in the earliest days of polar exploration, sailors used strengthened ships to ply icy waters. Naturally, these ships were originally wooden and based on existing designs but reinforced…

When it comes to protecting the hulls of ice-going vessels, the glassflake reinforced surface treated composite (STC) Ecospeed has proven to be remarkably durable, typically outperforming many specialized ice class paints. The fact that the coating is non-toxic is also particularly important for ice trading vessels where toxic AF coatings are rapidly scraped off and deposit their toxic ingredients in what are often particularly sensitive environments. Icebreakers and ships that trade in icy waters have their own very specific problems when it comes to protecting their underwater hull.