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February 08, 2008
Rust Bullet Application Report by Hapag-Lloyd
AG
Dear Sirs,
The conservation of the cargo bay tank tops on
our container vessels is insufficient. These
tank tops cannot be cleaned nor is a proper
surface preparation as the cargo bay is in
continual use and packed with containers.
Appropriate maintenance work can only be carried
out every 2.5 years within the interval of
regular repair docking time.
Tank tops are the floor of the cargo bay. At the
same time this floor is the ceiling of the
double layer and hopper tanks. In operation
these areas are constantly exposed to highly
aggressive media like:
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Inflating sea water caused by leaky hatchway
doors.
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Leakage of freight caused by improperly
packed containers.
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Mechanical damage of surface paint caused by
loading/unloading procedures.
If the tank tops are insufficiently protected
from corrosion, extensive steel repair work will
become inevitable. The rust
inhibitors used so far could not fulfill these
requirements. Numerous rust protective products
from various suppliers did not show the expected
result.
In September 2007 we applied Rust Bullet for
the first time at the Seoul Express (ex.
Bremen Express) after 7.5 years operation
time of the vessel. Our purpose was the
conservation of all cargo bay tank tops.
After 5 months
operation time still no corrosion could have
been detected. Therefore we feel that Rust
Bullet seals the surfaces affected by
corrosion in an excellent way.
We would like to continue to observe
the treated surface portions for another 2.5
years to fully document the expected success
of Rust Bullet for our application.
Best Regards,
Hapag-Lloyd AG
Lars Voss
(Senior Superintendent Engineer)
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