While convention holds that the most vital marine technological advances happen in or around the engine room and bridge, the business of coating and corrosion control - stripping, preparing and applying - arguably poses the most strenuous test the marine environment offers. It is a vessel's initial coating and maintenance thereafter that largely determines a vessel's lifecycle, thus its profitability. Coatings, much like mechanical systems, require constant attention to ensure that they are performing the duty required, namely maintaining the structural integrity of the steel beneath. That said, the last place a vessel owner want to see its vessel is in drydock, with a battalion of workers vigorously peeling, stripping and chipping away at a vessel's armor.
