For more than a decade, Nippon Paint Marine and Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL) have worked together to advance vessel performance through high-quality coatings technology. What began in 2010, with the successful application of LF-Sea on the Neptune Ace, has evolved into a trusted partnership shaped by a shared commitment to operational efficiency and environmental responsibility.
The journey started when MOL became an early adopter of Nippon Paint Marine’s LF-Sea, a low-friction hull coating featuring water-trapping hydrogel technology, HydroSmoothXTTM. By smoothing the microscopic indentations on a ship’s hull, LF-Sea reduced water resistance and fuel consumption by around 4%, helping to cut CO₂ emissions in line with the company’s environmental goals.
Over the years, MOL has remained a trusted partner of Nippon Paint Marine as it has continued to evolve its coatings portfolio, building on the legacy of LF-Sea to develop even more advanced solutions. Since the initial partnership in 2010, Nippon Paint Marine and MOL’s work together also helped develop other leading coatings such as A-LF-Sea and FASTAR. In 2021, this progress resulted in the release of AQUATERRAS, the world’s first biocide-free self-polishing coating. AQUATERRAS combines hydrophilic and hydrophobic micro-domain structures to actively repel biological adhesion, minimising fouling without the use of biocidal substances. It has since become a trusted solution across multiple vessel types, from cruise ships to bulk carriers, and is now playing a critical role in supporting MOL’s operational strategy.
Hirokazu Kaji, Deputy General Manager, Technology Division at Nippon Paint Marine, praised how the trust developed during the partnership has helped further research efforts: “The relationship between MOL and Nippon Paint Marine dates back more than 20 years. During that time, we have worked on joint projects which further reduced fuel consumption based on LF-Sea. This was conducted as a joint research theme with ClassNK on greenhouse gas reduction technology in international shipping, and as a national project supported by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism.
“With the aim of further energy savings,” Kaji San continued, “MOL applied A-LF-Sea on existing and new vessels to verify and evaluate its effectiveness, resulting in proving a 10% in fuel saving capabilities.
“Since then, even when FASTAR had just been launched and had a limited track record, MOL adopted the product for its own vessels with a view to saving energy through reduced fuel consumption and environmental considerations. This was a demonstration of the trust we had built together, cantered around the results our coatings had delivered.”
In 2024, AQUATERRAS was applied to the Courageous Ace, marking the beginning of a new chapter in the collaboration with MOL. The performance of the coating, along with the dedicated support from Nippon Paint Marine’s technical and service teams, reinforced its position as one of the industry’s leading coatings providers. That confidence led MOL to select AQUATERRAS once again, this time for the Carnation ACE, a vessel that operates globally in a wide range of challenging marine environments.
For vessels with variable routes and extended time at sea, the risk of hull fouling is high. AQUATERRAS’ proven ability to resist biofouling, even under demanding conditions, makes it the ideal solution. As MOL stated: ” AQUATERRAS is an environmentally friendly biocide-free coating. We adopted it in anticipation of its high performance, improved ship performance, and increased operational efficiency. We hope that Nippon Paint Marine will continue to offer us these optimal coating solutions in the future.”
The repeat application of AQUATERRAS across the MOL fleet also underlines a broader shift in shipowner strategies as regulatory pressure mounts and environmental accountability becomes central to operational planning. In choosing a biocide-free solution with proven fouling protection, MOL is prioritising hull efficiency alongside aligning with the industry on the realisation that sustainability and performance are no longer mutually exclusive. As shipping enters a decade defined by carbon accountability, such partnerships point to the increasingly critical role of coating technologies in achieving compliance and competitive advantage.
