The PSPC standard and the PRC shipbuilding industry

Corrosion of a vessel’s structure, particularly seawater corrosion of ballast tanks, is one of the important factors affecting a vessel’s safety. The Performance Standard for Protective Coatings for Dedicated Seawater Ballast Tanks in All Types of Ships and Double-Side Skin Spaces of Bulk Carriers (PSPC) was officially adopted by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) on 8 December 2006.

The PSPC markedly increased the technical requirements for vessel coatings in 10 key areas: surface preparation, handling of structural surface defects, limitation on soluble salt on the surface before application of coating, dust grade, paint thickness and control, surface treatment after erection, qualifications of coating inspectors, coating pre-qualification tests and certification, shop primer, and specifications files. The implementation of the standard will have a far-reaching impact on shipbuilding lead times and costs.

Application of PSPC standard

The PSPC standard has already been incorporated into regulation II-1/3-2 of the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS), becoming mandatory on 1 July 2008. The amendment of regulation II-1/3-2 treats the “date of placement of a building contract” as the date of application of the coating standards. Accordingly, the PSPC standard will mandatorily apply to ships:

• for which the construction contract is placed on or after 1 July 2008; or
• in the absence of a construction contract, the keels of which are laid or which are at a similar stage of construction on or after 1 January 2009; or
• the delivery of which is on or after 1 July 2012.

Furthermore, on 13 December 2006, it was decided at the 54th Session of the Council of the International Association of Classification Societies (IACS) to bring forward the implementation of the PSPC standard for vessels subject to the common structural rules (CSR) (namely bulk carriers of at least 90 metres in length and oil tankers of at least 150 metres in length) the contracts for which were placed after 8 December 2006. This is almost 19 months earlier than the mandatory implementation date (1 July 2008) required by the IMO.

Difficulties for PRC shipbuilders

The China Association of National Shipbuilding Industry believes that PRC shipyards will face a number of difficulties at the time of application of the technical specifications contained in the PSPC:

• keeping minor damage to coating to below 2% of total area after erection;
• keeping salt content below 50 milligrams per square metre; and
• a severe shortage of ship coating inspectors who meet PSPC requirements.

Response from PRC shipbuilders

In an effort to meet the challenges presented by the PSPC standard, the China Association of National Shipbuilding Industry has asked PRC shipbuilders to pay attention to the following issues when accepting new shipbuilding orders.

1. When negotiating new orders, shipbuilders should pay attention to three closely related contracts: the shipbuilding contract and any appendices (specifications) between the shipbuilder and shipowner; the supply contract between the shipbuilder and paint supplier; and the ship inspection contract between the shipbuilder and the classification society. Attention needs to be paid to tying the shipowner and paint supplier together with respect to items such as the target life of the coatings and process requirements. With respect to items such as the coating system and onsite supervision, the shipbuilder should adopt the same means of confirmation as the shipowner and paint supplier.
2. When describing the conditions for satisfaction of the PSPC standard in the technical specifications in the shipbuilding contract, the work processes and inspection procedures ancillary to the painting process need to be described. These should include compatibility between the primer coat and surface coat systems and expressly state that the technical standards for the paint provided by the paint supplier are required to satisfy the PSPC standard and that certification of this by the relevant classification society needs to have been secured.
3. A package price should be agreed upon by the shipbuilder, shipowner and paint supplier for paint for ballast tanks and double-side skin spaces of bulk carriers, or agreement on the adoption of certain self-protection terms needs to be reached with the shipowner.
4. An analysis of the impact on the production lead time for individual vessels needs to be conducted. Where the extent by which the production lead time will be increased is unclear, it is important to execute protective provisions (such as delay provisions) with the shipowner.
5. Costs should be duly budgeted. Where necessary, the particular costs may be charged separately in a supplementary contract or provision.
6. It should be specified that application and acceptance of the coating will be done in accordance with the PSPC standard and the IACS’s procedural requirement (IACS PR34). The qualifications, capacity (employer) and role of the coating inspectors should be specified so as to avoid any disagreement during the inspection process. It should be specified that any dispute between the parties should be resolved through mediation by the classification society. It should be specified that in the event of adverse weather conditions affecting the application of the coatings, the delivery period may be extended appropriately. Finally it should be specified that in the event of a change in the process, the shipyard should have the right to require the shipowner to accord it an appropriate additional grace period and increase the charges.
7. In the vessel inspection contract with the classification society, it is important to specify the coating inspection requirements; verify the shipyard, shipowner and paint supplier in accordance with IACS PR34; and specify the method for conducting random inspections and the responsibility for examination and approval of the coating technical documents and the handling of disputes that arise.

Yu Feng is a partner at LC & Co, Steven Zhou is a lawyer at LC & Co