Flooring Marine floors

Solutions & Applications · Shipping

A ship’s deck is not selected — it is approved. In any other building, the specification process begins with the intended use and ends with certification. In the shipping industry, the order is reversed: if the material is not approved, its appearance or price is not even considered.

Certification is the specification

Materials used for the interior lining of ships are tested using different protocols to those for buildings. There are two key points to note:

• IMO FTP Code — Part 5: Surface flammability test. This concerns how a flame spreads across the surface of the material.
• IMO FTP Code — Part 2: smoke and toxicity control. In an enclosed space on board, smoke kills before the flame does, and evacuation is not immediate.
• Wheelmark: the mark of conformity with the European Marine Equipment Directive. Without this, the material may not be fitted to a vessel flying a European flag.

Context	Building	Ship
Reference standard	EN 13501-1 (A2-s1,d0 · Bfl-s1 etc.)	IMO FTP Code, Parts 2 and 5
Labelling	CE in accordance with the Construction Products Regulation	Wheelmark in accordance with the Marine Equipment Directive
A critical parameter	Contribution to fire	Smoke and toxicity in a space without a direct escape route
Weight control	Usually indifferent	Critical — affects stability
Review	Building permit	Ship classification society & flag state

Weight is a design parameter, not a detail

In a building, a difference of one millimetre in floor thickness is insignificant. On a passenger ship with tens of thousands of square metres of deck area, the same difference translates into tonnes — and every tonne above the waterline affects the vessel’s stability and fuel consumption.

This is why marine flooring is designed to be thin and lightweight, and why the management of offcuts and waste is not an accounting issue but a technical one: accurate material budgeting per deck simultaneously reduces costs, installation time in the dry dock and the weight being transported.

Collections for maritime use

The collections specified for vessels are distinct references, not the commercial editions bearing the same names:

Collection	Typology	Marine certification
LINOMARINE	Linoleum · 50 colours in 4 designs · C2C Silver	Developed specifically for maritime applications · IMO/MED · Wheelmark
iD INSPIRATION MARINE	LVT · 16 designs · matt PUR finish · suitable for wet areas	IMO/MED certified — compliant with Parts 2 and 5
iQ GRANIT	Homogeneous vinyl · dry sanding refurbishment · acoustic version available to order	Maritime edition available to order — subject to confirmation by product code
GRANIT MULTISAFE	Homogeneous vinyl safety flooring; embossed surface; Class C for barefoot use, R10 for use with footwear	Maritime edition available to order — subject to confirmation by product code
STANDARD PLUS 2.0 mm	Homogeneous vinyl · 30 colours · PUR surface	Maritime edition available to order — subject to confirmation by product code
VYLON PLUS	Homogeneous vinyl · 18 colours in sheets and tiles · PUR surface	Maritime edition available to order — subject to confirmation by product code

The distinction in the third column is essential. LINOMARINE and iD INSPIRATION MARINE are, by definition, marine products. The remaining four ranges are also available in a commercial version for buildings — the marine version is a distinct variant of the same name. When placing an order, the marine version must be explicitly requested, and the IMO/MED certificate must be confirmed for each product code and batch.

Stock availability covers both standard items for rapid replacement from stock and bespoke orders for the refurbishment of communal areas.

Maintenance and repair: the real-life story of the fleet

The majority of work on ship decks does not involve new construction but rather refurbishment: localised replacements, joint repairs and perimeter restoration following work on utility networks.

1. Documentation of wear and tear: recording by deck and by area, using the codes already in place on the vessel.
2. Localised removal: cutting at the edge of the joint so that the new joint falls on a clean line.
3. Hot-melt bonding: re-bonding using joint strips in the same colour as the existing floor — this is the point that determines whether or not the repair is visible.
4. Perimeter restoration: the KS-61 semi-flexible skirting board adapts to curves and non-straight edges — a situation which, on ships, is the rule rather than the exception.
5. Inspection and documentation: photographic record and code register for the next intervention.

At the shipyard, outside the vessel, the standard building regulations apply: this includes ESHASTICK TUB self-adhesive waterproofing tapes for localised waterproofing of the facility’s installations and infrastructure.

High temperatures: plant room and flues

Where temperatures exceed the limits of conventional mineral wool, the material of choice is ceramic wool. A roll-form blanket made from aluminosilicate-based ceramic fibres:

• Classification temperature 1260 °C · continuous operation up to 1050 °C.
• Thermal conductivity ≤ 0.156 W/(m·K) at 500 °C.
• Density 128 kg/m³ — low specific weight, which counts double in shipping.
• Non-combustible; high resistance to thermal shock and low heat capacity.
• Permanent linear shrinkage ≤ 4 per cent; rolls of 13, 25 and 50 mm.
• Flexible — wraps round pipework and complex geometries.

Typical applications: insulation of combustion chambers, flues and industrial equipment. Thickness is selected based on the thermal profile of the application.

Land-based infrastructure: stations, port offices, contractor crews

The building installations supporting the fleet are subject to the standard building regulations, and the usual solutions apply there. METAL BOARD Rg2516 is a galvanised steel ceiling panel with acoustic fleece, designed specifically for spaces of this type — from small service rooms to large transport terminals:

Parameter	METAL BOARD Rg2516
Material	Galvanised steel with coatings, Lay-In system 24 mm or 15 mm
Sound absorption	αw 0.70 · NRC 0.70
Drilling	Rg 2516 — 16 per cent open area, unperforated perimeter
Acoustic fleece	VLSRX black non-woven fabric
Reaction to fire	A2-s2,d0 (Building framework EN 13501-1)
Access	Fully detachable for access to the roof cavity
Environmental	Cradle to Cradle Silver (RAL colours) · EPD (RAL 9010)

IMO/MED-certified flooring

Collections with a Marine Edition available to order

Maintenance & Finishes on Board

Machinery Room & High Temperatures

Shipyard & Onshore Facilities