Achieving Zero Harm across global shipping requires more than ambition — it depends on collaboration, transparency, and solutions that can demonstrate real-world impact. As part of RightShip’s Zero Harm Innovation Partners Program, Hempel is contributing to this shared mission by helping transform how hull performanceis understood, measured, and valued across the maritime industry.
Hull condition plays a critical role in vessel efficiency, emissions, and overall environmental impact. With nearly 40% of a vessel’s surface almost permanently underwater, even small improvements can deliver meaningful reductions in fuel consumption and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Hempel’s partnership with RightShip is part of its efforts to support the industry’s shift from assumption-based improvements to outcomes that can be verified, compared, and trusted.
Joining the Zero Harm Innovation Partners Program is part of how Hempel has evolved its approach from a coatings-focused offering into a retrofit solution with quantifiable performance benefits, aligned with RightShip’s GHG Rating methodology. Through its participation in the program, Hempel has supported approaches that improve how coating-related efficiency gains are measured and verified, helping to strengthen confidence in the role of hull performance solutions in reducing emissions.
This has helped shipowners and charterers better understand and trust the role of silicone coatings as energy-saving devices, and their contribution to measurable GHG reductions. By strengthening the link between technical upgrades and validated outcomes, this work supports more confident decision-making — a critical enabler of Zero Harm across fleets.
Hempel’s Full Picture Hull Management (FPHM) framework reflects a broader approach aligned with Zero Harm principles: moving beyond individual interventions toward lifecycle-based performance management. Whether at newbuild, drydocking, in-service operation, or periods of idling, FPHM provides clarity around hull condition and performance trade-offs across each stage of a vessel’s life.
This holistic view supports safer and more sustainable operations by balancing performance, environmental compliance, flexibility, and lifecycle costs. The introduction of Hempaguard NB, a silicone hullcoating developed specifically for newbuildings, reinforces the idea that hull performance — and its impact on emissions and efficiency — begins from the earliest design and construction decisions.
Impact sits at the core of the Zero Harm mission. To date, Hempel has delivered more than 5,000 applications of its Hempaguard solutions globally. Since joining RightShip's Zero Harm Innovation Partners Program, over 50 vessels have leveraged their investment in hull performance technology to quantify improvements in design efficiency and demonstrate measurable reductions in greenhouse gas emissions.
One notable example is a Supramax vessel that, following an upgrade to Hempaguard X7, combined with the installation of other energy-saving devices, achieved a significant improvement in its GHG rating from E to B+. This example highlights how verified efficiency improvements can support meaningful emissions reductions and contribute to safer, more sustainable vesseloperations.
Despite proven technical benefits, the adoption of efficiency-enhancing solutions can be slowed by misaligned incentives among owners and charterers. Addressing this challenge requires transparency, shared frameworks, and alignment across the vessel ecosystem.
Hempel has responded by engaging more holistically with stakeholders around each vessel, clearly articulating how hull performance improvements translate into fuel savings, emissions performance improvements, and commercial value. This approach mirrors the intent of the Zero Harm Innovation Partners Program — recognising and rewarding proactive investments that support safer, more sustainable operations.
As expectations around decarbonisation, environmental protection, and transparency continue to grow, the role of innovation partnersbecomes increasingly important. Hempel’s evolution toward data-supported,lifecycle-based hull performance solutions reflects a broader industry shift toward mature, scalable approaches that enable confident investment decisions.
Through its ongoing collaboration with RightShip, Hempel continues to support the Zero Harm mission by helping turn efficiency improvements into verified outcomes — contributing to safer operations, reduced emissions, and a more transparent pathway toward Zero Harm.
If your innovation has the potential to redefine the maritime industry, we invite you to submit your application and become part of a global movement towards a safer, greener future.