by Guest » April 1, 2022, 1:22 pm
Freighters are working ships that normally serve a customer base that is rightfully more concerned about transportation costs rather than the appearance of ships arriving at their facilities. About the only exception to this that I can think of is the cruise industry which is aimed at that general public rather than agricultural, aggregate, and industrial customers. That being said, painting and general upkeep of a vessel will have an impact on the bottom line in the sense that an improperly maintained asset will sooner or later require some significant investment. While it is generally true that fleets seemed to maintain their fleets to a higher standard in the past than is commonplace today all one has to do is to view some historical pictures on this site to realize that this was not necessarily a universal practice. The reduction of crew size and new environmental regulations during the recent decades has also made an impact on how paint jobs are maintained. I would imagine that each fleet has a maintenance plan for their ships, but I believe that hull painting is now done only during a drydocking survey. As such ships would go at least 5-6 years between paint jobs and will sustain quite a bit of wear over that period. The poster "Guest" pretty much summed up the power of individual stockholders in large corporations.
Freighters are working ships that normally serve a customer base that is rightfully more concerned about transportation costs rather than the appearance of ships arriving at their facilities. About the only exception to this that I can think of is the cruise industry which is aimed at that general public rather than agricultural, aggregate, and industrial customers. That being said, painting and general upkeep of a vessel will have an impact on the bottom line in the sense that an improperly maintained asset will sooner or later require some significant investment. While it is generally true that fleets seemed to maintain their fleets to a higher standard in the past than is commonplace today all one has to do is to view some historical pictures on this site to realize that this was not necessarily a universal practice. The reduction of crew size and new environmental regulations during the recent decades has also made an impact on how paint jobs are maintained. I would imagine that each fleet has a maintenance plan for their ships, but I believe that hull painting is now done only during a drydocking survey. As such ships would go at least 5-6 years between paint jobs and will sustain quite a bit of wear over that period. The poster "Guest" pretty much summed up the power of individual stockholders in large corporations.