Denmark's Hempel Group Signs 3-Year Global Hull Coating Agreement with Maersk

en.Wedoany.com Reported - On September 14, Danish coatings company Hempel signed a three-year global hull coating agreement with Maersk, covering a substantial portion of Maersk's fleet drydocking projects from 2026 to 2028. The two parties will carry out hull coating application during ship drydocking and maintenance, and will continuously conduct hull performance and condition monitoring. The agreement did not disclose the specific number of vessels involved or the contract value.

Under the agreement, Hempel will focus on providing Hempaguard series silicone-based hull coatings for Maersk container ships. The products are primarily used to reduce biofouling on the hull surface and sailing resistance, thereby improving the vessel's long-term hydrodynamic performance. This contract not only includes coating application during the drydocking phase, but also extends to hull condition and performance monitoring during vessel operation, thereby combining single drydocking coating application with long-term performance management.

Since its launch in 2013, the Hempaguard series has been applied more than 6,000 times cumulatively. Hempel stated that, according to a DNV-verified methodology, these applications have cumulatively helped customers avoid approximately 43.4 million tonnes of CO2 emissions compared with conventional hull coating benchmarks. Actual energy-saving effects will be influenced by factors such as vessel type, route, speed, hull condition, and maintenance methods.

This three-year agreement further expands on the existing cooperation between the two parties. In October 2025, the Hempaguard NB silicone-based coating dedicated to newbuildings completed its first application on the 9,000 TEU "Tangier Maersk" built by Yangzijiang Shipbuilding; in January 2026, two other newbuildings of the same series also completed coating application, with the remaining vessels scheduled to be implemented in 2026.

Hempaguard NB was developed for newbuilding application processes and can be applied directly during the shipyard construction phase. Hempel previously disclosed that the product can be applied without affecting the vessel's launch schedule and improves fuel efficiency by reducing hull resistance. Compared with this new agreement, the aforementioned projects mainly targeted newbuildings, while this cooperation further covers Maersk's in-service fleet global drydocking plans for 2026–2028.