Controlling Hazards on Tankers

All cargoes can be handled safely by showing the

greatest care through out operations

And following standing instructions from company

SMS, senior officers, regulations
 Precautions to avoid hazards
• Strict control of entry into pump room,
cargo spaces, and enclosed spaces
• Through ventilation of the spaces is must
• Use adequate protective clothing
• Through cleansing of clothing after contact
with cargo
• Continuous monitoring of the atmosphere
in working spaces for petroleum vapor and
toxic gasses
 Precautions to avoid hazards
• There are strict procedures found in SMS for
ventilation and gas freeing to ensure that fire
and health hazards are minimized
• The mechanical ventilation arrangement in the
pump room have capacity to ensure sufficient air
movement
• The cargo tank ventilation is so constructed that
it reduces the risk of cargo vapors in gas safe
areas gas is taken through pipe line to the
ventilation tower
 Gas freeing
• Defined as replacement of cargo vapor, inert
gas, or any other gases with fresh air
• This is done by ventilating to a too lean
atmosphere
• Before entry by any person is made in to a
compartment the atmosphere must be checked
for oxygen, hydrocarbon contents, or toxic gases
(dragger tubes)
• A compartment is gas free only when the oxygen
content is 21 % by volume and no vapor from
cargo or toxic
Precautions to avoid fire, reactivity,
corrosion
1. Inerting
2. Taking antistatic measures
3. Water padding
4. Nitrogen padding
5. Segregation of cargoes
6. Separation of piping system
7. Use of inhibitors to prevent polymerization
8. Compatibility of materials
9. Tank coating
 Inerting
• The atmosphere in an inerted tank is safe with regards to
fire but dangerous for health
• IG is used in cargo tanks to prevent the cargo from
polymerization, oxidation and humidity
• Inerting is done by replacing the cargo vapor with an
inert gas until the concentration of cargo vapor is less
than the LEL
• IG is either nitrogen or inert gas produced in inert gas
plant
• Following the correct Inerting procedure is also important
• This is done by regular checks of the tank atmosphere
• Atmosphere checks are done by measuring the
percentage of oxygen and cargo vapor through the
sampling tubes
 Antistatic measures

• Important countermeasure is to bond all metal objects

together
• Bonding to earth is effectively accomplished by
connecting all metal objects to the ship structure
• The ships hull is naturally earthed through the sea water
• All pipe lines, measuring and sampling instruments are
insulators and must therefore be bonded
• If cargo tank is maintained in an inerted condition anti-
static precautions are not necessary
• But for non inerted tanks precautions like safe flow rate
and procedures for ullaging, sampling and gauging
should be followed some times anti-static additives are
added
 Segregation of cargoes

• Some cargoes can present some hazards if they

are not compatible to each other
• Compatibility charts are used to determine if
cargoes can be loaded adjacent to each other
• Segregation and separation of cargoes and
spaces is fundamental to the safety of tankers
• This is achieved by means such as cofferdams,
void spaces etc.
 Separation of piping system

• segregated ballast tanks are tanks

dedicated for ballast only

• The segregated ballast system have

independent piping system to avoid
contamination with cargo
 Compatibility of materials
• All material used for construction of tanks
and associated piping ,valves and pumps
must be resistant to cargoes carried
• Mild steel is the normal material used for
construction of tankers
• It is resistant to most cargoes but its
propensity to rust is a disadvantage
 Compatibility of materials
• Rust makes tank cleaning more difficult and may
even contaminate the cargo
• In order to avoid cargo contamination and get a
smooth surface on tank structure tankers are
always coated internally with paint
• The paint coating should also be compatible to
cargo coating resistance list should be consulted
every time when cargo is loaded in coated tank