The latest development from Hempel is its new revolutionary tin-free antifoulant, which, according to the manufacturer, is the perfect solution to an impending global ban on the use of TBT (tributyltin) antifoulant paints.

"Hempel's new Globic SP-ECO is the tin-free choice of the future," says a Hempel spokesman. "It has a revolutionary fibre composite structure and has been extensively tested and come up with excellent performance during these tests."

Explaining how Hempel has kept a step ahead of its competitors in preparing for the proposed TBT ban, the spokesman says: "The Marine Environmental Protection Committee (MEPC) of the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) intends to ban, in the long-term, all antifouling systems that exhibit harmful effects, including TBT-based systems.

"An IMO's draft convention has set January 2003 as the date to ban application of TBT antifoulings and January 2008 as the date to ban the presence of the same material on the ships and vessels and a final decision is expected to be reached at an IMO diplomatic conference to be held in October this year.

"There are no doubts about the advantages of TBT-based antifouling paints in terms of saving in fuel consumption and, as a result, reducing the amount of CO2 and SO2 that is emitted to the air. There are other advantages for using TBT antifoulings that lie in the polishing characteristic of their copolymer and releasing an efficient antifouling agent while the ship is sailing.

"However, TBT antifoulings have some minor implications on the environment and some marine living organisms. Within the marine paint industry there has been an increasing focus over the past 10-20 years on environmental issues on both local and regional levels. This is why the MEPC has taken this decision to ban TBT antifoulings."

Hempel is committed to protecting the environment, he said.

"The company decided very early in the research process to combine the advantages of the solubility of the resin with an improved mechanical strength in order to develop an optimum functional self-polishing binder system," he said. "By incorporating microfibres in the resin-based paint, the brittleness of the system is removed and more resin can be added to provide the desired polishing rates. This invention is protected by worldwide patents and is used in the Globic SP-ECO range of antifoulings. The new range thus offers exceptional strength, improved levels of polishing control and protects under the most severe conditions."