Classification society ClassNK issued approval for Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corporation’s newly developed corrosion resistant steel (NSGP™-2) for use on the upper deck and inner bottom of crude oil tanker cargo oil tanks (COT). Following earlier approvals of steels for the inner bottom plating of COTs, this marks the first time that approval has been granted for corrosion resistant steels for both the top and bottom parts of the COT, providing owners and shipyards with a practical alternative to coating systems.
Photo courtesy of ClassNK
As the use of corrosion resistant steels would allow shipyards and owners to significantly reduce the time and cost related to coating application, development of such steels has been a topic of intense research over the past several years. Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corporation released the world’s first corrosion resistant steel (NSGP™-1) for use on the inner bottom of COTs in 2011. The approval of NSGP-2 marks the first time that class-approved steels for both the top and bottom of the COTs will be available on the market.
Yasushi Nakamura, ClassNK’s executive vice president said: “While coated conventional steel meets IMO regulations, the additional costs associated with coating application can be high. This approval of NSGP-2 means that owners now have a practical alternative to meet IMO regulations for COT corrosion protection.”
