What is a "marine barrier" product?

Owning, or chartering, a ship is a significant financial responsibility. Therefore, it makes good sense to protect that investment as much as possible. One way to do that is to take steps to avoid damaging a ship’s structural integrity. Another way is to ensure the transitions between offloading and taking on new cargos--the turnaround time--goes as smoothly and quickly as possible. 

Both of these issues are addressed with the application of a marine barrier product. A marine barrier product is a liquid solution used to protect cargo holds during transportation of cargos known to be corrosive or greasy.

Corrosive cargos like sulfur, salt, fertilizers and coal create an acidic environment that will eat away at unprotected metal. Greasy cargos like green delayed petcoke cause staining that gets increasingly harder--thus more time-consuming--to remove from an unprotected hold.

A thin coating of barrier solution is all that’s necessary to keep corrosive acids from damaging a hold, or greasy, high-carbon compounds from staining it. It only needs to be lightly sprayed onto areas that need protecting. It then acts as a buffer between the cargo and the metal structure of the ship. 

When contrasting an unprotected hold with a hold protected with a marine barrier, laboratory results show much less corrosion on the protected surfaces. So by taking measures to coat a hold with a marine barrier before loading some cargos, two important outcomes are achieved. Damage from corrosion is mitigated, and turnaround times are reduced, as the time taken to restore a hold to the necessary condition for the next load is minimized.

Cargos requiring a marine barrier for cargo hold protection

• Sulfur
• Salt
• Fertilizers
• Coal
• Green Delayed Petcoke

Utilizing a marine barrier in these cases is a crucial step in managing the possibility of financial harm, or even financial disaster. Extensive costly repairs, even the loss of a ship, are the consequences of failure to consistently use a marine barrier for cargo hold protection.