EDINBURGH, Scotland - The Sherwin-Williams Co., Cleveland, OH, has assigned global testing specialist Exova to provide support on a key marine project.

The paint company is working with Exova’s coatings division for the next nine months to test a number of marine coatings at the development stage. Exova will test the products to the two key International Maritime Organization (IMO) performance standards for protective coatings, resolutions MSC.215(82) and MSC.288(87). These provide minimum standards for protective marine coatings used in both ballast tanks and cargo oil tanks.

MSC.215(82) is the performance standard for protective coatings for dedicated seawater ballast tanks in all types of ships. MSC.288(87) is the standard providing technical requirements for the minimum standard for protective coatings to be applied in cargo oil tanks during the construction of new crude oil tankers. Both standards are vital to the construction of ships, setting out the requirements to which the protective coatings used must adhere.

Exova carries out a range of coatings services for the marine industry and was the first independent testing group to be accredited for carrying out the key ballast tank simulation test introduced in the IMO resolution MSC.215(82) Ship Design and Equipment Specification performance standards for protective coatings.