Safety Assessments for Tanker

Operations The Role of the

Loading Master
J OHN G. M YCOCK , BP Exploration, Sullom Voe Terminal, Shetland, UK

ABSTRACT
he author has many years practical experience
at Sullom Voe; a terminal with an excellent safety
record. He explains the part that Total Quality
Management plays in the terminals operations, and
outlines the procedures followed by the Loading
Masters before, during, and after a tankers visit.

THE LOADING MASTER

Before it is possible to assess the role of the Loading Master
it is necessary to define what exactly is meant by the term.
Different ports, terminals and oil companies have
varying policies in this area. A Loading Master may be
someone from the oil terminal who, basically, fills in the
paperwork, but has little marine knowledge. At the other
end of the scale, he may be a Master Mariner with years
of tanker experience who stays on board, and closely
monitors every move the ship makes.
The requirements of the type of terminal or refinery,
together with the division of roles between the company
operating the asset and the local harbour authority will,

by and large, dictate the role of the Loading Master. There

is no right or wrong role: it is just a case of different ships,
different long splices. This article reviews the role of the
Loading Master at Sullom Voe Terminal in Shetland, which
is operated by BP Exploration Operating Company Ltd.
on behalf of twenty-six pipeline participants.

THE MARINE OPERATION AT SULLOM VOE TERMINAL

The operation at Sullom Voe Terminal (SVT) consists
of the loading of Brent Blend Crude Oil and LPG into
tankers, the off loading of shuttle tankers from the
Schiehallion FPSO, and the subsequent export of the
Schiehallion Crude. The Terminal has four jetties.
There are six Loading Masters, five on shift and one on
days, and a Marine Superintendent, together with five
Jetty/pollution operators per shift (Figure 1).

THE LOADING MASTER AT SULLOM VOE

Loading Masters at SVT normally hold a Master Mariners
Certificate and have extensive tanker experience. However,
the new Loading Master may be working ashore for the
first time, and will have to be trained in shore side
health and safety regulations. These include; the Health
and Safety at Work Act, the Docks Regulations 1988, Local
Harbour Bye-Laws, and Jetty Regulations; together with
Figure 1
MT Centaur, a regular visitor to
Sullom Voe, docked at jetty 2

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a much deeper knowledge of ISGOT, SOLAS, MARPOL,

and OCIMF Mooring Equipment Guidelines than is
required by seagoing personnel. This deeper knowledge
is necessary because the Loading Master must be able to
not only spot any defect, or breach of regulations, on any
class of visiting tanker, but also to know where the
regulation is and what exceptions, if any, there are.
Then, of course, there is the LPG side of the operation.
Training, and maintaining skills, is clearly a major
priority. Training is an area in which BP Exploration excels.
Necessary courses are identified, and a yearly plan of
training for each individual devised. Training requirements are far from static and, as technology changes, new
and superior methods of training are emerging. For
example, the Terminal has recently sent a Loading
Master on a new computerised LPG Tanker Simulator
course at a leading British nautical college.

THE ROLE OF THE LOADING MASTER

Figure 2 (top)
View of tank deck of
MT Centaur
Figures 3 and 4
(above and right)
Author, port authority and
ship staff adjust moorings

To the enquiry as to what is the business of the Loading

Master, the reply is Safety, safety and lets not forget
safety! The purpose of the Loading Master, and all the
marine staff, is to ensure that tankers are loaded and
discharged efficiently; with no risk to the vessel, terminal,
personnel, or the environment. This task can involve the
mundane, but nevertheless important, job of jetty
housekeeping; through the authorisation of maintenance work in the Marine Area; to arranging the
removal of a tanker from the berth before a breach of
regulations becomes an incident.
It may well be asked how SVT has maintained a reputation for high operational efficiency whilst, at the same
time, also having a reputation as probably the most environmentally friendly port in the world. The answer lies in
a system of total quality control, in which the Loading
Master plays a leading part. First of all, it is necessary
to understand that operational efficiency, safety, and
environmental friendliness are not mutually exclusive,
but mutually supportive. For example, if there are no oil
spills, then such items as clean up costs, related shipping
delays, diversion of management time from other tasks,
legal costs, and bad publicity resulting in loss of business
are avoided also. Environment, safety, and efficiency all
go hand in hand (Figure 2).

THE TOTAL QUALITY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM OF SVT

MARINE DEPARTMENT.
The simplest way to explain how the Total Quality
Management System works at SVT is to follow through
the stages involved in loading a tanker. In this example,
an oil company has purchased a cargo of crude oil, and
wishes to charter a certain tanker to collect the cargo
from SVT.
Ship Vetting
First of all, the company will ask SVT if the tanker is acceptable to the Terminal. On receiving this request, the Loading
Master will:
i

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Consult Clarksons Tanker Register to assess the

physical suitability of the tanker for SVT. If the tanker
does not meet certain parameters, then the Harbour
Master and Pilots are consulted, and the vessel
may be accepted with certain restrictions; for
example, reduced wind speed limits for berthing. In
this latter case, the Demurrage Co-ordinator would
need to be contacted, as operational conditions
might be imposed; e.g. no demurrage to the terminal
for excess loading time on VLCCs.

ii

Examine the Terminals computerised Ship Database

to ascertain if there are any outstanding warranties
for the tanker, class of tanker, or shipping company
involved. If there are outstanding warranties, then
the ship will be refused until such matters are
resolved. The matter may be resolved simply by a
fax, but may involve visits by shipping company superintendents, and assessment by the Marine Technical
Group. The latter consists of the Terminal Marine
Superintendent, the Day Work Loading Master,
and at least one other Loading Master. In practice,
the views of all the Loading Masters are sought.

iii Interrogate the BP Ship Vetting Service central

computer to ascertain if the tanker is acceptable to
the BP Group.
Warranty Telex
If the tanker is acceptable, and is nominated to load a
cargo at SVT, the Loading Master will send a warranty
telex (actually these days it tends to be an e-mail).
This is sent to the Owners and Master of the tanker, via
their agents, if the tanker has never been to the terminal
before, or has not visited SVT for more than twelve months.
The warranty telex explains the conditions under which
the tanker is acceptable, and the Master is required to
confirm that all conditions will be met before the vessel
is allowed to enter Sullom Voe Harbour. Electronically
stored, the telex only needs minor alterations for the tankers
name, and requirements based on deadweight, before
being sent.
Mooring Arrangement
If it is the ships first visit, the tankers Master will be
requested to fax details of the ships mooring arrangements,
and from these the Loading Master will devise a proposed
mooring pattern. The mooring pattern is then faxed to
Sullom Voe Harbour Authority for their comment and
agreement. The pilot, on boarding, will take a copy to the
ship for the Masters agreement. After the tanker is
safely berthed, the Loading Master will use the ships general
arrangement plan, wire certificates etc. to enter the ship
on the OPTIMOOR system. OPTIMOOR is a computerised mooring model of the port which allows assessment
of the suitability of a mooring pattern for any state of weather,
tide, current, and loaded condition of the tanker. The tankers
mooring arrangement can then be adjusted by experiment
with the computer model. Again, details of any change
to mooring pattern are sent to the Port Authority, but this
time electronically, so that they can run the proposal on
their copy of the computer model (Figure 3 and 4).
Operations Meeting
On boarding the tanker, the Loading Master will meet with
the Chief Officer for the operations meeting. In this
respect, the Loading Master is acting as the link between
the Terminal and the tanker, to ensure each knows the limitations and requirements of the other. It is at this meeting
that he has to be satisfied that the communications
between Terminal and ship are satisfactory. This includes,
but is not limited to, being satisfied that the emergency stop
procedure is understood and that there are no language
barriers. Having satisfied himself that there is a safe
loading programme in writing, and that the programme
is clearly understood by both Terminal and tanker, the Loading
Master will proceed to the next stage (Figure 5).
Safety Inspection
The Safety Inspection does not consist of just ticking
boxes on a safety check list, but of actually going and
checking that the status of ships plant is as required.

For example, when checking to see if the Inert Gas Riser

is free of oil, not only is it necessary to see the drain valve
open, but also to detect inert gas leaving the drain to
prove that it is not blocked. Detailed inspection is
thus essential.
Safety inspections are carried out continually, by trained
marine operators, throughout the loading operation. Any
safety infringement will cause the loading operation to
be stopped and, if the issue cannot be resolved, the tanker
will be required to vacate the berth (Figure 6).

Figure 5 (top)
Author discusses loading
operations with Master and
Chief Officer of MT Centaur
Figure 6 (above)
Routine inspection during
loading operations

Sailing
On completion of loading the Loading Master will act
as SVT representative during the completion of documentation, and then as Mooring Master during the sailing
operation.
Reports
Once the tanker has departed, two reports are generated
by the Loading Master. The first report is compiled on
the Terminals Ship Database, and consists of details of
the tanker visit, and any problems encountered. This record
will be consulted during future vetting of the tanker
concerned. Secondly, an electronic report is sent to the
BP Ship Vetting central computer, so that an account of
the loading operation is available to the vetting service,
and all other BP Marine Operations world-wide.

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CONCLUSION
The above may sound somewhat draconian, but by far
the majority of loading operations are completed
without even minor incidents. All the parties involved,
be they Tanker, Terminal, or Port Authority, know
exactly what is required of them. The Loading Master
is the hub of a total quality management system designed
to produce a safe, efficient and environmentally-friendly
operation.

IF YOU HAVE ANY ENQUIRIES REGARDING THE

CONTENT OF THIS ARTICLE , PLEASE CONTACT:
Captain J.G. Mycock
BP Exploration
Sullom Voe Terminal
Mossbank
Shetland

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

ZE2 9TU

John Mycock has thirty years experi-

UK

ence of the marine industry and is currently a Loading Master of ten years
standing at Sullom Voe Terminal. He
holds a Class I Master Mariners
Certificate and a Master of Business
Administration

Degree

of

the

University of Strathclyde Graduate Business School. He is also a

Member of the Nautical Institute and a Member of The Institute
of Petroleum. He is an affiliate of IChemE.

246 P O RT T E C H N O L O G Y I N T E R N AT I O N A L

Tel: +44 (0)806 243000

Fax: +44 (0)806 243200