ROKUMARINE - Tight Flame-retardant, Water-tight, Air-tight Material for “A” Class Fire-resistant Cable Transit for Ships Launched

May 22, 2013

FURUKAWA ELECTRIC iNDUSTRIAL CABLE CO., LTD.
FURUKAWA TECHNO MATERIAL CO., LTD.

Tight Flame-retardant, Water-tight, Air-tight Material for "A" Class Fire-resistant Cable Transit for Ships Launched Furukawa Electric Industrial Cable Co., Ltd. (Head Office: Arakawa-ku, Tokyo; President: Yoshitaka Hattori; hereinafter "Furukawa Electric Industrial Cable") and Furukawa Techno Material Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Hiratsuka, Kanagawa Prefecture; President: Toshio Tosaki; hereinafter "Furukawa Techno Material") have jointly developed a flame-retardant and water-tight/air-tight solution for ships, called ROKUMARINE - Tight Method.

Furukawa Electric Industrial Cable will begin sale of the products from May 23.

Outline of Developed Products

All cabling systems are required to be equipped with materials to prevent the spread of fire and measures with a predetermined fire-resistance performance level when they penetrate the bulkhead or deck, which are ships' fire-control compartments. Moreover, bulkheads of engine rooms or open decks are required to withstand a certain level of water and air pressure (gas pressure).

Furukawa Techno Material and Furukawa Electric Industrial Cable have developed new technologies optimal for cable transit in ships by combining technologies to prevent spread of fire and to develop materials, accrued by the former in the architecture field, with technologies of the latter, which possesses a time-proven record of results for electric cables for ships.

The two companies have developed ROKUMARINE - Tight Method for fire-prevention bulkheads and decks for ships, and ROKUMARINE - Tight - Light Sealant and ROKUMARINE - Tight - Hardener to be used for ROKUMARINE - Tight Method. These new products have acquired ship classification type approvals and will be on the market from May 23.

Furukawa Techno Material is manufacturing the products while Furukawa Electric Industrial Cable will undertake marketing.

Details of Developed Products

Bulkheads and decks that form the interior of a ship's body are required to serve as fire-control compartments in each of the given spaces as a measure to prevent the spread of fire in marine vehicles.
These compartments have a predetermined performance level for achieving a fire-resistance period of up to 60 minutes depending on their installation standards ("A" Class 60 minutes: bulkhead or deck made of copper or equivalent material have a 60-minute fire-resistance period). When an electric cable or piping penetrates these ship compartments, the cable or piping transit is also required to have the same level of fire-resistance performance to prevent fire from spreading by traveling through the electric cable, etc. This transit is referred to as "A" Class Fire Resistant Cable Transit for Ships and an official testing agency verifies the performance of the filling material and method (hereinafter "fire-prevention material") in order to acquire countries' individual ship classification agencies' approval.

The two companies have thus far jointly developed ROKUMARINE Work Method, a Class A fire-prevention method with a 60-minute fire-prevention period, and produced ROKUMARINE Fireproof Blocks and ROKUMARINE Fireproof Sealant to be used for the ROKUMARINE Work Method. However, in addition to such a method, compartments such as the engine room and open deck are required to have a function to withstand a certain level of pressure as a water-tight and air-tight (gas-tight) measure.

The two companies have therefore developed ROKUMARIN - Tight Method, a water-tight and air-tight solution for transit with a fire-prevention function to add to the ROKUMARINE lineup. Conventional water-tight and air-tight solutions typically use a filler prepared by mixing base compound and hardener. The filler for ROKUMARINE - Tight (ROKUMARINE - Tight - Hardener), however, can be prepared simply by mixing it with tap water and thus reduces necessary materials since special liquid is not required.

Features of New Products

  1. Outstanding workability
    Work can be completed simply and quickly just by closing up the opening with the flexible and light non-hardening putty (ROKUMARINE - Tight - Light Sealant) and filling the opening with the filler (ROKUMARINE - Tight - Hardener). The filler can be prepared simply by mixing it with tap water.
  2. Reduced work time
    The filler hardens very quickly (in about 30 minutes in summer and 60 minutes in winter) after being inserted, so work time for checking can be reduced.
  3. Available for a wide range of electric cables
    The method can be used for a wide range of electric cables including fire-retardant, high-voltage electric cables for ships and other specialty cables (such as siliconized or non-halogen cables), and for combinations of these cables. It is intended for electric cables with an outer diameter of up to 85.6 mm.
  4. Available for various openings
    The method can be used for opening sizes ranging from 170 x 200 mm up to 300 x 800 mm for a combing (rectangular) opening and from a diameter of 100 mm up to 200 for SGP (round) opening. The length of combing and SGP can be as short as 100-150 mm, thus helping reduce weight.
  5. Water-tight and air-tight properties
    Water-tight: 0.25 MPa x 60 min.
    Air-tight: 0.03 MPa x 60 min.

Type Approval

Acquired from Nippon Kaiji Kyokai (NK) Type No.: 13FPA31DA
Under application for approval by JG (Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism)
Under application for approval by MED (EU member nations)