Tanked up

摘要

It is well known that steel must be protected against corrosion for longevity, nowhere more so than in a marine environment. However, corrosion in the ballast tanks is by far the largest cause of structural failure of a vessel and oil spills. Even in the middle of the twentieth century, most owners had no corrosion protection measures installed in seawater ballast tanks, and of those that did, many relied on 'soft coatings', based on animal-fat/grease that could be easily applied, but needed to be re-applied almost annually, due to its poor protection performance.