In recent years, PSC inspections in Dutch ports such as Rotterdam and Amsterdam have clearly become stricter. In addition to traditional items like firefighting, lifesaving and machinery, luminous safety markings inside the vessel are now often listed as a separate focus. On many older vessels, painted arrows on bulkheads have faded and old metal plates no longer glow sufficiently. During drills or spot checks, both crew and inspectors can feel it: “hard to see, hard to remember, not user-friendly.”
To close this gap within limited port stays, many European shipowners are turning to glow in the dark IMO signssupplied in roll form. These products use an approx. 240 μm PVC photoluminescent film with a pressure-sensitive acrylic adhesive and 145 gsm double PE coated release paper, providing strong adhesion in humid, salty environments while remaining easy to cut and apply on site. Standard roll sizes are 0.62 m / 1.24 m × 45.7 m, with matching 5 cm, 10 cm and 25 cm luminous tapes, ideal for stair edges, corridor lines and door surrounds.
In practice, owners or managers can first print the required IMO symbols on PVC or PET, laminate them onto acrylic sheets, PVC foam boards or aluminum composite panels, cut them into individual plates, and then have crew install them gradually during port calls or voyages. The photoluminescent layer absorbs natural light, sunlight and interior lighting during normal operation. Typically 10–30 minutes of exposure is enough to “charge” it, allowing it to glow for hours in total darkness or smoke, meeting IMO requirements for brightness, after-glow time and resistance to salt spray and humidity.
For ageing fleets frequently calling at Dutch ports, this roll- and tape-based retrofit approach is highly flexible: no need to enter a yard to remove and re-install large numbers of metal plates, and no need to extend off-hire just for signage. Instead, luminous marking upgrades can be spread across routine maintenance and short port windows. This not only helps reduce deficiencies in PSC reports, but also gives crew clearer guidance on escape routes and firefighting equipment during daily rounds and emergency drills.