Cruise Ship Interiors Expo exhibitor Sika Marine provides direct glazing, teak decking, exterior and interior sealing and bonding, as well as acoustic flooring systems in the manufacture and repair of leisure boats, commercial vessels, and offshore platforms. Their elastic bonding and sealing solutions are designed with the harsh marine environment in mind: resistance to water, sun, cleaning chemicals and fatigue.
Sika offers a range of flooring products, each of which have a leveling and smoothing aspect, as well as varying degrees of noise and vibration reduction properties, coupled with fire resistance. Sika recently launched a very comprehensive range of PU based interior and exterior decorative flooring systems, including teak effect and multiple coloured matte deck covering systems for modern yacht, ferry, river cruise boats, expedition, and cruise ship designs.
The decorative flooring systems are also available in prefabricated formats to cover specific designs in the leisure boat industry including balconies and stair treads onboard passenger ships, enabling easier and faster onboard installation. In this article we dive into the world of Sika Marine, looking at the benefits of the products and services they offer – read on…
Leveling and Acoustic Flooring Systems
With more than 30 years’ experience in sound and vibration damping flooring solutions, Sika has provided acoustic solutions for more than 100 cruise vessels. Sika Marine’s R&D department has been working on creating high performance solutions that are quick to apply, resulting in a full product line of one-component solutions after the release of some new products.
Sika have realised the duality of marine construction – ship builders are looking for quicker and more consistent building techniques and reduced costs, while designers want improved and innovative appearance, lower weight, and better performance. As such, the company provides a range of state-of-the-art technology solutions to assist ship builders in meeting these challenges.
Providing a Perfect Flooring Finish
Typically, decks must be levelled to give the applied carpets, vinyl, tiles, etc, a perfect smooth look – Sikafloor® Marine self-levelling primary deck coverings will level a ship deck to prepare it for the final floor surface. The 1-component levelling solution for steel or aluminium decks supply a timesaving way to level the decks without sacrificing quality, while also providing IMO & US Coastguard certification.
Reducing Onboard Noise
Being onboard a commercial vessel or cruise ship means being exposed to noise 24 hours a day, from sources such as the main engine, bow thrusters, HVAC-system, and other electrical installations. International authorities have set the standards very high when it comes to comfort onboard all commercial and passenger vessels, making it crucial for the crew to have an environment where they can work and rest without being exposed to noise and vibrations.
Sikafloor® Marine Litosilo systems are floating floor systems. The systems consist of mineral wool fireproof insulation and Sikafloor® Marine Litosilo mortar to reduce airborne and impact noise. The systems also provide an A-60 solution with a building height as low as 45mm. Sikafloor® Marine Litosilo systems can be combined with Sikafloor® Marine Visco-Elastic systems to reduce both low frequency structure-borne noise and higher frequency airborne noise for comfort class accommodation noise levels and A-60 fire protection.
Noise sources like main engines, thrusters, pumps, generators, HVAC, loud music, and foot traffic create not only airborne noise, but also a lot of vibrations in the whole structure. Without treatment, vibration causes structure bone noise in the form of rattling and humming.
Sikafloor® Marine visco-elastic systems are built up with a flexible layer applied to the deck with a constrained layer installed on top. The flexible visco-elastic layer is the Sikafloor® Marine VEM technology, a visco-elastic polymer modified mortar. The constrained layer is either a water-based cement mortar compound of Sikafloor® Marine 18, Sikafloor® Marine 118 Fast Cure (FC), Sikafloor® Marine 190, or steel tiles. Sikafloor® Marine visco-elastic have the flexibility and the mass needed to dampen the vibrations of vessels, especially in the lower frequency range produced by engines, thrusters, and other noise sources.
Decorative Flooring systems
Many luxury yachts and cruise ships are equipped with teak decks. Teak wood is perfect for this application due to its natural oil content that helps give it its extreme durability against the harsh elements seen in the marine environment.
However, natural teak wood forests are only grown in Myanmar, India, Laos, and Thailand, making the wood expensive. As well as this Myanmar has banned the export of virgin teak to slow deforestation, driving the price higher. To combat the higher costs, Sika has developed synthetic teak products made from polyurethane resins that have the appearance of teak but offer more options for colour and design possibilities.
Sikafloor® Marine Deco Teak can be applied as a prefabricated solution, opening the door for playful designs and the implementation of logos in the synthetic deck.
Keeping it Cool with Cool Touch
Sika has reached another milestone with the patented Cool Touch Technology. This innovative technology allows the deck covering to keep a more pleasant surface temperature even after hours of sunshine. With Cool Touch, the deck temperature is up to 10°C lower than on conventional synthetic teak decks. Cool Touch also has a density of only 0.94 kg/litre, helping to save weight onboard, as well as being VOC free.
Want more of this?
Check out the Cruise Ship Interiors (CSI) Design Expo Americas blog for more design insights and the latest industry updates. CSI Design Expo Americas is the world’s only exhibition and conference exclusively dedicated to connecting the buyers and suppliers of the cruise design industry. The next event will be taking place on 3 – 4 June 2025 alongside Hotel & Resort Design South and Cruise Xperience Innovation Summit at the Miami Beach Convention Center.