IMO MSC.288 Performance Standards for Protective Coatings for Cargo Oil Tanks of Crude Oil Tankers

The “IMO MSC.288 Performance standard for protective coatings for cargo oil tanks of crude oil tankers” published by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) describes the technical requirements for the minimum standard for protective coatings to be applied to cargo tanks during the construction of new crude oil tankers.

For the purposes of this standard, the following definitions apply:

Crude oil tanker as defined in Annex I of MARPOL 73/78.
Dew point is the temperature at which the air is saturated with moisture.
DFT is the abbreviation for dry film thickness.
Dust is loose particulate matter found on a surface prepared for painting, resulting from sandblasting, cleaning or other surface preparation operations, or resulting from environmental influences.
Edge grinding is the machining of the edge before secondary surface preparation.
“Good” condition is the condition with minor spot rust for evaluating ballast tank linings for tankers.
A hard coating is a coating that is chemically transformed during the curing process or a non-convertible air drying coating that can be used for maintenance purposes. It can be inorganic or organic.
NDFT is the abbreviation for nominal dry film thickness. A 90/10 application means that 90 percent of all thickness measurements are greater than or equal to the nominal dry film thickness, and none of the remaining 10 percent of measurements are less than 0,9 x nominal dry film thickness.
The primer coat is the first coat of the coating system applied in the shipyard after the workshop primer application.
Shop primer is a pre-production primer coat applied to steel sheets, usually in automated facilities (and prior to the first coat of a coating system).
Stripe coating is the painting of edges, welds, and hard-to-reach areas to ensure good paint adhesion and proper paint thickness in critical areas.
Target useful life is the target value (in years) of durability for which the coating system is designed.
The technical data sheet is the paint manufacturer's product data sheet containing detailed technical instructions and information regarding the coating and its application.

The ability of a coating system to achieve its target useful life depends on the type of coating system, steel preparation, operating environment, application, and coating inspection and maintenance. All of these aspects contribute to good coating system performance.

Inspection of surface preparation and coating processes should be agreed between the shipowner, the shipyard and the coating manufacturer and submitted to the Administration for review. Clear evidence of these inspections should be reported and included in the coating technical file.

When evaluating this standard, the following should be taken into account:

To prevent premature decay or failure of the coating system, it is essential that the specifications, procedures and various different steps in the coating application process (including but not limited to surface preparation) are strictly followed by the shipbuilder.
Coating performance can be improved by taking measures at the ship design stage, such as reducing combs, using rolled profiles, avoiding complex geometric configurations and ensuring that the structural configuration allows easy access for tools and facilitates cleaning, drainage and drying of the area to be coated.
The coating performance standard is based on the experience of manufacturers, shipyards and ship operators. It is not intended to exclude suitable alternative coating systems provided that performance at least equivalent to that specified in this standard is demonstrated.

This standard is based on specifications and requirements to provide a target useful coating life of 15 years, which is considered the period from initial application during which the coating system is intended to remain in “Good” condition. Actual useful life will vary depending on a number of variables, including actual conditions encountered in service.

Standard practice is that protective coatings for cargo oil tanks applied during the construction of new crude oil tankers should comply with at least the requirements in this standard.

In terms of the coating system, an epoxy-based system that meets the testing and physical properties in the table given in the standard must be documented and a type approval certificate or declaration of conformity must be provided.

The following application areas are the minimum areas that must be protected according to this standard:

Deck head with complete internal structure including brackets connecting to longitudinal and transverse bulkheads. In tanks of ring frame girder construction, the lower deck transverse frame is sheathed to the level of the first trigger bracket below the upper face plate.
Longitudinal and transverse partitions are covered up to the top access level. The top access road and supporting brackets are completely covered.
In cargo tank compartments without a top access road, the cladding shall extend up to 10 per cent of the tank height at the centre line but need not extend more than 3 m below the deck.
The flat insole and the entire structure are covered up to 0,3m height from the insole.

Base coat requirements:

The requirements for protective coating systems to be applied in shipbuilding for cargo tanks of crude oil tankers meeting the performance standard specified above are listed in the table provided in the standard.
Coating manufacturers must provide a specification of the protective coating system to meet the requirements in the table and the operating environment.
The administration verifies the technical data sheet and the declaration of conformity or type approval certificate for the protective coating system.
The shipyard applies the protective coating in accordance with the validated technical data sheet and its own validated application procedures.
The referenced standards listed in this standard are acceptable to the administration. Test equipment, test methods, preparation methods, or test results shall conform to performance standards not lower than those acceptable to the administration.

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