The pipe on the right was the original rubber coated pipe from a ship built in 1998, in Europe. It is coated in a seamless rubber coating and lasted a respectable 14 years.
The pipe in the middle was fabricated in 2012 by a Chinese dockyard and coated with a seamed rubber coating. It lasted less than 2 years.
When the pipe in the middle sprung a leak in 2014, the wall thickness was so thin, Irwin Marine Services had to weld up in place an uncoated steel pipe you see on the left.
The next voyage Irwin Marine Services delivered and fit a new properly coated pipe that remains in service until now.
The reality is during a scheduled 8-14 day docking in China, the dockyard cannot provide a properly coated pipe and typically will only offer galvanizing or painting.
Irwin Marine can offer cost effective pipe coatings (rotational lining) on the tightest of schedules. We can also refurbish your pipes at a lower cost than the dockyard can renew. A pipe refurbished by Irwin Marine Services will last longer than any new pipe from a China dockyard.
Irwin Marine is located in Shenzhen, China and provides service to all China Dockyards.