Nippon unveils fourth gen antifouling paint

Generally, antifouling performance becomes less reliable when its polishing rate is low. Nippon’s fourth generation antifouling system, FASTAR, is a self-polishing paint which incorporates a unique nano-domain resin structure, derived from the structure used in Aquaterras, the world’s first biocide-free self-polishing hull coating.

Makoto Nakagawa, marketing general manager, Nippon Paint Marine, said that FASTAR was an advanced self-polishing antifouling paint. “Every aspect of its AF performance has been improved,” he said. “No other paint maker has this technology. Its performance in both static and dynamic conditions is unrivalled,” he added.

Tests have shown FASTAR’s required total minimum drying time at drydock for a large container vessel to be reduced by up to 37%, compared to other typical coating systems, depending on the ambient temperature during application.

FASTAR is available in four main versions – FASTAR I & II and FASTAR XI & XII – the latter two products incorporating Nippon Paint’s hydro-gel technology. This optional addition gives FASTAR XI & XII the same 8% reduction in fuel consumption and CO2 as the company’s A-LF-Sea series, which has been applied to more than 3,300 vessels since market introduction.