Subsea Industries has introduced a new UV-resistant coating, Ecolast, to its portfolio of marine hard coatings.

“Regular coatings will quickly lose their original color when exposed to the ultraviolet radiation present in sunlight. This is problematic when colorfastness is required, such as in the offshore wind farm sector,” said Subsea Industries’ executive director Boud Van Rompay.

“It is essential that the coating used does not change colour. In most cases an extra layer of polyurethane is applied to preserve the color. This additional layer is, however, not resistant to abrasion and offers only a temporary fix. A more permanent and less cumbersome solution is Ecolast,” said Van Rompay.

Introduced to the maritime industry this week during the SMM trade fair in Hamburg, Germany, Subsea Industries’ production executive and NACE coatings inspector, Manuel Hof, said: “The number of global offshore wind farm projects entering the construction phase points to significant market growth for the sector in coming years, with analysts predicting capacity peaking at 9.2 GW in 2022. If these new installations are coated with Ecolast, they will be protected against salt, ultraviolet radiation, waves, even ice. Mechanical damage to the coated surface is minimised.”

Application of Ecolast is done in two homogenous layers, with no need for primer.