Sound Steel Pte Ltd

Fight that rust

Model of LA GLOIRE
First iron clad vessel
Built for the French Navy in 1859



1859 - 2012. And still no progress?

It is hard to understand: your cell phone connects to eight satellites at the same time and a new Airbus lifts 800 passengers into the sky.

But 2012 built gas carriers are hardly superior to the world’s first ironclad vessel – in terms of corrosion protection. In 1859 the LA GLOIRE was launched by the French Navy with 114 mm thick steel plates to protect the wooden hull against British canons.

The irony: Neither rust cleaning nor steel protection onboard has improved since 1859.

Ship crews try to remove deck rust. They clean the same spots again and again. Due to bad preparation the rust spot repair life is 2 to 4 months only. Now and 150 years ago. They use ‘middle age’ tools as chipping hammers, grinders and needleguns. They hammer away day by day, instead of removing the rust by sandblasting.

Here some examples of typical low cleaning quality onboard:

Here the needed cleaning standard Sa 2.0 to Sa 2.5. Even deep pitting corrosion, perfectly cleaned by Aquajet.

The difference is obvious.