Pacific Basin Chooses Graphene-Based Propeller Coating to Boost Efficiency

Major dry bulk player Pacific Basin has announced its intention to apply a graphene-based propeller coating - XGIT-PROP - across the entirety of its fleet in order to boost vessel performance and efficiency. 

The company claims the roll-out of the XGIT-PROP coating across its fleet marks the "largest adoption of graphene-based propeller coatings in the entire dry bulk segment".  At the time of writing, Pacific Basin offers a fleet of approximately 266 Handysize and Supramax dry bulk ships.

The innovative XGIT-PROP coating has been developed by GIT Coatings, a Canadian company which has already seen its coating technology adopted by other bulk carriers such as Stolt Tankers.

Over a period of six months, GIT Coatings claims that the use of the XGIT-PROP coating can yield fuel savings of between 4-6% (compared to vessels without the coating).  When you consider that fuel often represents one of the largest costs of a voyage, these potential savings are substantial.

Pacific Basin’s commitment to the use of the coating follows the success of an initial trial that saw one of its Supramax dry bulk vessels apply the coating.  Now, Pacific Basin has scheduled the roll-out of the XGIT-PROP coatings across 40 of its vessels that are scheduled for dry-dock maintenance in 2024.

Commenting on the new coating, Sanjay Relan, the General Manager of Optimisation & Decarbonisation at Pacific Basin, said: 

“Since 2007, we have been coating our vessels’ propellers with silicone paint to proactively maintain a smooth propeller surface and avoid the frequent need for polishing to recover lost performance. 

However, we have not been able to avoid edge damages to the silicone coating on the propellers, which requires the entire propeller coating to be stripped and reapplied at every docking. 

By adopting XGIT-PROP hard coating for our entire fleet, we are taking a proactive step towards more sustainable practices.  We hope to maintain a damage-free, smooth propeller surface and improve efficiency over longer periods.  At a fleet-wide level, we anticipate significant reductions in both environmental impact and operational expenses”.

GIT Coatings describes XGIT-PROP as a "biocide-free hard foul release coating" that combines a strong adhesive primer with a hard foul release topcoat.  Due to the efficiency gains unlocked by the coating, GIT Coatings claims that dry bulk operators are using the coating to improve their vessels’ RightShip GHG ratings.

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