Coatings are often treated as a minor line item in shipbuilding and maintenance budgets. Yet, as revealed in Safinah’s latest white paper, they can drive over 20% of a vessel’s lifetime operational cost when things go wrong.
From premature corrosion and cargo contamination to fuel inefficiencies and unplanned downtime, poor coating decisions can quickly escalate into multi-million-pound consequences. A single failure event can trigger £50,000 – £100,000 per day in off-hire, alongside cargo claims exceeding £3 million, while deteriorating hull performance can increase fuel consumption by 5 – 10% annually.
The white paper draws on Safinah’s extensive experience across 1000+ drydock projects and 25 years of coating analysis to uncover why coatings fail. The findings are clear: failures are rarely random. They stem from mis-specified systems, poor surface preparation, inadequate QA/QC, and misalignment with real vessel operating profiles.
Case Insight: Turning Coating Strategy into Commercial Advantage
A Strategic Imperative for Shipowners
A standout example in the report highlights how a global tanker operator transformed vessel performance through a smarter antifouling coating strategy.
Following signs of declining hull efficiency – marked by 60% slime fouling and repeated hull cleaning within a single cycle – Safinah was engaged to reassess the vessel’s coating approach ahead of drydock . Rather than applying a standard replacement, Safinah analysed real operational data, including trading routes, idle periods, and environmental exposure.
The result was a tailored antifouling system aligned to the vessel’s true operating profile, combined with a targeted surface preparation strategy that avoided unnecessary blasting and reduced drydock scope.
The impact was immediate and measurable:
- Reduced off-hire risk through elimination of unplanned cleaning and performance loss
- Improved fuel efficiency via sustained hull smoothness and reduced drag
- Elimination of reactive maintenance costs
- No in-water cleaning required over full dry dock period
- Optimised drydock investment, focusing spend where it delivered value
This case demonstrates a critical shift: coatings are no longer a routine maintenance task – they are a strategic lever for operational performance and cost control. – Read the full case study.
As regulatory pressure increases, particularly through IMO frameworks like CII and EEXI – coating performance now directly impacts fuel efficiency, emissions, charterability, and asset value.
Safinah’s “The £5M risk of poor coating choices” white paper makes a compelling case for moving beyond supplier-led decisions toward independent, data-driven coating strategies. By combining technical expertise, structured QA/QC, and lifecycle management, shipowners can reduce risk, improve efficiency, and protect profitability.
Download the whitepaper “The £5M Risk of poor coating choices – How shipowners can avoid the burden of coating failures”
Discover how Safinah enabled optimised vessel performance through smart coating strategy – read the case study.
