ClassNK Type Approval for World First

ClassNK issued the world’s first class approval for an immersion testing system for coatings of the inner bottom of cargo oil tanks in line with the IMO’s Performance Standard for Protective Coatings (PSPC) for cargo oil tanks to the Japanese Paint Inspection and Testing Association (JPIA).
Adopted by the IMO’s Marine Safety Committee in May 2010, the new PSPC for cargo oil tanks lays out clear requirements for coating preparation, application, and service life, as well as for coating testing systems and testing processes. As the top and inner bottom of the cargo oil tank are subject to different corrosive forces, however, JPIA began working with the Japanese Paint Manufacturers Association (JPMA) to develop testing systems that can accurately simulate the different corrosive environments found at the top and bottom of the cargo oil tank.
As a result of that collaboration, JPIA successfully developed a gas chamber corrosion testing system for simulating the corrosive environment found at the top of cargo oil tanks which became the first such system in the world to receive class approval when it was approved by ClassNK in February of this year. JPIA has now also successfully developed an immersion testing for simulating the corrosive environment found at the bottom of cargo oil tanks. The approval issued by ClassNK today that JPIA’s immersion test accurately simulates the corrosive environment found in the inner bottom of oil tanker cargo oil tanks in line with the PSPC for cargo oil tanks, and further certifies that JPIA’s testing process, training methods, and subcontract management systems are sufficient to accurately carry out testing in line with IMO and related requirements.
With the approval of this new system announced by ClassNK today, JPIA’s immersion coating testing system becomes the first such system in the world to receive class approval, and JPIA becomes the first organization in the world to be recognized as class approved testing organization for both gas chamber corrosion testing and immersion testing in line with the new performance standard.