Nippon develops corrosive-resistant steel plate

Nippon Steel Corp. and Nippon Yusen Co., Ltd. co-developed corrosive-resistant thick steel plate (NSGP-1) to use for the bottoms of cargo tanks in crude oil tankers.

Nippon Yusen will proactively adopt this thick steel plate to crude oil carriers that it will build in the future.

To develop NSGP-1, Nippon Steel reproduced the environment where bottoms of tanks corrode and, in this experimental environment, the company identified the most suitable combination of alloys to be added to the steel plate. NSGP-1 can be welded and processed in the same way as normal steel plate and does not require any special treatment such as coatings or organic solvents. The new thick steel plates will reduce the cost for construction and repair and are environmentally friendly.

In 2004, NSGP-1 was experimentally used for the bottom of the cargo tanks of ?Takamine?, a large tanker built by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, and it was found, after 2 ½ years, there was no evidence of corrosion or pitting.