Jotun and HHI sign MoU

The signing took place between Jotun’s chairman, Odd Gleditch Jr and HHI’s chief executive, Ka Sam-Hyun during the South Korean president’s state visit to Norway in June. South Korea’s Minister of Industry Yunmo Song attended the signing ceremony.

“The partnership with Jotun will allow HHI, the world’s largest shipbuilder, to be better equipped to meet the new environmental requirements that are aimed at reducing solvent emissions,” said Ka Sam-Hyun.

Jotun focuses on research and development of environmentally-friendly paints. Its corrosion-protective primer, in development for 13 years, is said to reduce total solvent release by 80-90%, from approximately 250 to nine grams per litre.

Primers make up 60-70% of the total amount of paint applied to a ship. The new product is currently available for Korean shipyards and selected shipbuilders in Europe who have experience applying single-coat primers that require careful application techniques.

HHI has 16,000 employees and an order entry of US$16bn in 2018. HHI’s chief executive accompanied the Korean delegation during the state visit to President Moon Jae-In. Ka Sam-Hyun also visited the Jotun production facility in Sandefjord during his stay in Norway.