Maintaining the appearance of a ship may not be at the top of the shipowner's ToDo list, but deterioration of the steel hull can be delayed by the quality of the paint coating, both above and below the water line. "Rust Buckets", as they were once called, are rare these days. Quantities of surface rust are visible on many ships, particularly in the spring after the rigours of winter, but that is normal and not of particular concern. Ship's crews are rarely sent over side to scrape and paint anymore (they do work on the superstructure however when conditions allow).
Hull painting is usually done during regular drydockings, where old paint is removed by high pressure water or abrasive blasting. (Silica sand is an inhalation hazard so is rarely used.) The raw steel can then be primed and new paint is applied to a properly prepared surface to ensure good adhesion.
All of the above serves to explain why this morning (May 22) the auto carrier Morning Calypso looks so neat and tidy.
Built in 2013 by Imabari Zosen, Marugame, it is a 59,580 gt, 18,713 dwt ship with a capacity of 6142 CEU. The ship was delivered March 30, 2013 and its classification society, NKK, conducted its ten year survey in March of this year. That exercise would have involved drydocking, and no doubt provided an opportunity for repainting.
Tracing the ship's movements over the past few months reveals that it was in Hiroshima, Japan March 25-27 and Nakanoseki March 27-28, then proceeded via the Suez Canal April 19, to Barcelona April 24-25, Antwerp May 2-3, Portbury May 5, Goteborg May 9, Zeebrugge May 11-13 and Southampton May 14-15.
Despite its EUKOR label, the ship is not carrying Korean cars, but has European cars on board and is on Wallenius Wilhelmsen's usual transatlantic service.
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