Transport by water is increasing and is having an impact on global transportation, by sea or by the water infrastructure on rivers and canals. Over 100.000 commercial and 25.000 nautic vessels are operating globally. Around 80% of all cargo is being processed through harbors, making them the world’s busiest gateways for bulk goods.
If you check on a modern ship or on offshore sites, you will notice a big attention to passive fire protection on all kinds of installation in and around the engine room to reduce energy costs and emissions.
For both marine as offshore, Insulcon has several products, which are approved to be used as insulation or passive fire protection.
Some of the specific properties of high temperature insulating materials, particularly the very high temperature resistance and low thermal conductivity, make them very suitable to use in passive fire protection applications (PFP).
Used in passive fire protection solutions high temperature insulation materials contribute to:
Specific requirements for passive fire protection solutions place special demand on the materials used and this also applies to the insulation materials. In addition to these requirements, the insulation material used must be suitable to use on the materials over which they are applied and must be resistant to other influences the material is exposed to in the application.
Applicability is substantiated, based on the product properties that have been tested according to the relevant standards and can be found in the product data sheets. This concerns properties like:
Other properties in relation to PFP and/or thermal insulation are often available on request.
Depending on the industry or specific application, high temperature insulation materials for in passive fire protection have been tested and certified according to industry specific passive fire protection standards.
A fire on board of a ship can be devastating with serious risks to passengers, crew members, ports, harbors, and the environment.
SOLAS, the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea, designed a comprehensive set of requirements for fire protection, detection and extinction on board ships based on the latest technological advances as well as lessons learned from fire incidents in the past. The regulations are designed to ensure that fires are prevented from occurring, and if they occur that they are rapidly detected and then contained and extinguished.
The IMO issued the international Code for application of Fire Test Procedures (FTP-Code 2010) intended for use by the Administration and the competent authority of the flag State, when approving products for installation in ships, flying the flag of the flag State in accordance with the fire safety requirements of the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea.
The Code is applicable for products which are required to be tested, evaluated, and approved in accordance with the Fire Test Procedures Code as referenced in the Convention and it presents the required test procedures which shall be used in testing products as a basis for approval.
Insulcon has access to the FyreWrap® range of products that have been tested and approved for use in A- and H-class steel and aluminum fire divisions as well as A-class fire divisions in high-speed craft.
We also have an extensive range of products that have the Wheelmark affixed and are in compliance with the Marine Equipment Directive.
Our Certified Q-Fire expansion bellows are fireproof expansion bellow which are successfully tested and approved. The Wearflex® Q-Fire expansion bellow, used as wall penetration insulation, was exposed for 66 minutes (60 minutes +10%) to a simulated fire where the temperature rose to approx. 1000°C.
Wearflex® insulation covers are pre-fabricated, insulation mattresses, applicable for the thermal and acoustic insulation of irregular and complex shapes, for example in engine rooms.
At our plant in Belgium, we manufacture a wide range of high temperature resistant textiles, such as E-glass, HT-glass, silica, ceramic fibre and LBP (low bio-persistent) fibre webbings, cloths, packings and (twisted) ropes (max. 1400°C).
Pyrogel XTF is an example of an Aerogel blanket. It is a high-temperature insulation blanket formed of silica gel and reinforced with a non-woven, high-temperature batting. Similar to Pyrogel XTE in composition, Pyrogel® XTF has been specially formulated to provide exceptional protection against fire.
![]() |
Apart from the certified and approved product solutions in our product portfolio, Insulcon also has many products which might not be certified, but do meet the high demands which the marine & offshore industry requires. Moreover, they are available and tailor-made for specific applications.
Looking for advice? We will help you to find a suitable solution! Give us your details and we will contact you as soon as possible.