VETTING INSPECTIONS - EFFECTIVE

PREPARATION AND AN
INSPECTOR'S

Thursday, 20th March

Police Officer's Club, Hong Kong

What is a vetting inspection?
Why is it done?
How important is it for a ship Owner or a ship manager to ensure
that a vetting inspection is successful?
How does a poor vetting inspection affect the commercial
operation of the vessel and sometimes the entire fleet?
What can the ship's staff or ship manager do to ensure a
successful vetting inspection?
What is the expected involvement of the ship's staff?
Does the presence of a superintendent affect the outcome of a
vetting inspection?
How does a vetting inspector react to different situations? Areas
where observations or deficiencies are found
How does a ship Master deal with a vetting inspector?
 WHAT IS A VETTING INSPECTION?

A n inspection carried out on a vessel to assess the extent to which a vessel, its staff and its
management's comply with international legislation and industry standards, in order to enable a
prospective charterer to determine the suitability of a vessel to carry their cargoes.
Vetting inspections are usually carried out at the request of a ship operator or owner, who wishes
to present his or her vessel for assessment.

Vetting inspections are carried out on many types of vessels - tankers, bulk carriers, offshore
units including oil rigs, offshore supply vessels, crew boats, accommodation barges, tugs,
bunker barges, packaged goods barges etc.

These inspections are commissioned by various parties - OCIMF SIRE submitting members,
CDI, Rightship (for bulk carriers) and P & I Clubs
Why Vetting?
To avoid this.....
this__
Definitely this
And it might be a good idea to avoid this too...
You have to wonder...
And just so you know it is not just
tankers.....
 Vetting - commercially critical or
a waste of time?
Is vetting compulsory?

In a shipping market where charterers can pick and choose from a surplus of vessels, it is
especially important that commercial teams have available a fleet of vessels with sound
vetting records and full vetting acceptance by the oil majors and other customers.

Certain charter parties, especially in the chemical trade, include a vetting and inspection
clause...

BIMCHEMTIME: "Owners declare that the Vessel has been vetted and is, to the
best of their knowledge, acceptable on a case-by-case basis by:......................."
"If the Vessel, despite the exercise of due diligence, fails to obtain or
retain acceptances by any of the companies listed in sub-clauses
(a) (i), (ii) and (iii) above or the minimum CDI score stated in sub-
clause (f), then the hire shall be reduced by the amount of______________per
day for each company's non-acceptance and/or while the CDI score remains
below the agreed minimum."

"Should the Vessel when re-vetted or re-inspected still not obtain the
acceptances required under sub-clause (a) or the minimum CDI score required
under sub-clause (f), the hire shall be reduced or continue at the reduced rate
as stated in sub-clause (g)(i) and the Charterers may notify the Owners that
unless the situation has been rectified within 90 days, the Charterers shall
have the right to cancel this Charter Party."
Most potential ship charterers participate in or obtain information from some form of vetting
protocol or another.

Risk management priorities may differ

Depending on the past experience of the customer, pollution control or structural issues may
be high on the agenda of one while another may focus on crew experience or navigation

Vetting acceptance by one party does not necessarily mean an automatic acceptance from
another, but a rejection or a poor report can cause concern and raise a red flag.

A disastrous inspection can cause a customer to place the entire fleet in a company on hold.

Obviously, if this happens, it spells commercial disaster

Preparing for a vetting inspection

Parties involved
 Involvement of Ship's Staff

- Liaising with agents and inspector if necessary and identity known

- Preparing vessel for the inspection

- Dealing with the inspector during the inspection

 Preparing the vessel
- Officers knowledge of the requirements of the questionnaire in use

- Officers knowledge of the vessel

- Officers and crew familiarity with safety equipment

- Walkabout by senior officers - more than once

- Creating a good first impression

Not a good first impression...
 The Inspection
- When does it really start?

- Opening meeting - try and ensure key personnel are present

What is your prime objective during an inspection?
How does a Shipmaster achieve these goals?

Display a sound knowledge of the vessel

Be completely familiar with the safety management system

Know what areas of the vessel are prone to problems and possible deficiencies

Have the professional conviction to speak up if the inspector is wrong

Be aware and make others aware of the requirements of the inspection

Provide information that is required. Don't overdo it.

 Some causes of deficiencies
Housekeeping - lack of commitment and planning
Hardware - Poor condition - wear / corrosion or circumstances

Insufficient supervision and planning of maintenance

Training - insufficient management commitment

Poor communication - loss of information, language

Design - practical use unknown to designer
Training - inadequate training of management
Training - not provided or ineffective
Organisation - bad planning or co-ordination

Procedures - poorly written - do not cover the required scope

Hardware - procurement and stock management

Design - no indication of condition

Design - illogical layout - not in compliance

Error enforcing conditions - personality issues

 Errors by ship's staff

lack of professional knowledge, lack of experience

Eagerness to have paperwork in order leads to mistakes

Falsification of records

Lack of motivation, poor professional approach

The Chief Officer appeared unfamiliar with the procedures for calibration of the gas detection equipment
available on board. Records of on board calibration stated that he had been calibrating this equipment once
a month for the past seven months.

The managers had not provided the ship's staff with Chinese translations of important notices. While the
staff's level of English was "fair", there was some inability to properly understand the language in IMO
circulars such as MSC 1143 and 1014.

A review of the engine room log book indicated that the there was a large disparity between the exhaust gas
temperatures of units 2 and 4 of No 2 Auxiliary Engine. This difference had been recorded as being as high
as 140C. According to the Chief Engineer, this was not due to a problem with the units themselves, but was
due to malfunctioning thermometers. A requisition dated 21 August 2013 for new thermometers was
presented to the inspector. A s per the Chief Engineer, this had not yet been supplied. However, according to
engine log book entries, this problem had begun in the beginning of January 2014.
The common working language on board was English. However, it was noted that the English proficiency of the
Chief Engineer and 2nd Officer could at best be described as "Poor" by industry standards. There were clear
communications problems between the Master and these officers and between the 2 nd Engineer and these
officers. It was also noted that of the ratings on board, only two of the Able Seamen could speak English of a fair
standard.

It was observed that the 2nd Engineer did not appear to be fully familiar with the starting procedure for the
emergency generator.

Bridge checklists reviewed dating back to 2012 indicated that the bow and stern thrusters had been tested on
each occasion that the vessel arrived and departed from ports and that the horizontal stabilizer fins had been
retracted prior berthing. The vessel was a VLCC and was not fitted with any of this equipment.
 Inspectors do it too....
Observation: The food handling space was clean however it was noted that the food served from the
galley except for soup was completely cold and thus was a normal practice on the ship.

Other inspector comments: This was not supposed to be a cold meal.

And also nominated for the award for inane comments.... Initial Operator

Comments:
For the lunch were served frying chicken, mashed potatoes and broccoli which normally do not need to be
served hot. Additionally, inspector has delayed to take launch. However, Master has been instructed to
ensure that all meals are served hot, to hold Safety Committee Meeting with this observation included in
agenda and send minutes of SCM to Company as per procedures. Master has monitored cooks
performance since inspection and has confirmed that all meals have been served hot. Minutes of SCM are
attached.
And the award for "Best Imitation of the
Keystone Cops" goes to.................
 Dealing with observations - on the spot

- Challenge the observation if you know it to be incorrect. (Politely!!)

 The presence of a Superintendent

- Should be as a support mechanism only.

- The inspector is not there to assess the superintendent's level of knowledge

 Superintendent's advice to vessel - incompetent or
inexperienced? You decide.
Random checks of the oxygen contents of cargo tanks carried out during the inspection revealed that
these were well above 8% in most cargo tanks. Cargo tanks 2P/S, 3S, 4P/S, 6P/S, 7P/S and 8S were all
found to have oxygen contents of over 14%. This was verified using a second oxygen analyser. The
vessel was discharging a cargo of Jet-A1 at the time of the inspection. The inert gas system was
operational with the oxygen content of the IG delivery being 4.5%.

The attending superintendent (Master Mariner) gets involved and initiates corrective action
(read as "tells the Master what to do")...the observation now becomes this_____________

argo tanks carried out during the inspection

t cargo tanks. Cargo tanks 2P/S, 3S, 4P/S, 6P/S,
hoanrtegnintgsoafocvaergro14o%f.JeTht-
is
A1waastvtheerifiteimdeusoinfgthae

below 8%. This

 The Closing Meeting

- The inspector does NOT require a signed copy of the observation sheet

- Ensure key personnel are present

- A time for discussing, not begging
 To summarize

1. Make sure all concerned parties are made aware of the importance of an inspection.

2. Consider logistical issues such as location, time etc.

3. Senior staff MUST make regular walkabouts on board. Do not settle for circumstantial blindness

4. Make sure you have the right people on board.

5. Be prepared to deal with an inspector who might not be having a very good day!

6. Have the professional courage and knowledge to challenge an inspector if he is making

a mistake. It is for your good as well as the inspector's!!

7. Do not attempt to cover up things or make excuses for mistakes. It will not help.

8. If you have a good, practical and experienced inspector, use the experience as a learning tool.
Questions?
A few words about vetting
inspection on ships.
Published on July 31, 2014
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Nikolaos Souvlas

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Chief Mate, Merchant Marine

Vetting inspection is a grading system of a ship, enabling a potential

charterer to compare between similar ships and choose the best for his
needs, to maximize efficiency.

At first, oil companies owned the oil carriers, which reduced the long time
charters. In fact of that; the charter market became active. Around 70s to
80s the tanker ownership moved to independent owners, although the new
fleet was small and inexperienced. The oil industry as the major spot
charterer, influenced by the ship managers, started to be concerned of
quality tankers. Based on international conventions such us SOLAS,
MARPOL and STCW, they created a large database containing important
details for each available vessel.

The main purpose was to increase safety and decrease the environmental
pollution. It started becoming real by checking if the ship complies with
the international legislation, avoiding oil pollution, making the safety
management better, decrease the danger of explosion from the terminals
and finally by ensuring that cargo would not be carried by substandard
ships. Nowadays, when choosing a ship, a charterer searches ships and
companys history and profile and their involvement in any accident, if
there was any. If two ships have the same price, the charterer will choose
the one with the less deficiency.

The master, whenever an inspection is announced to be carried out on the

vessel, should prepare the ship according VIQ (Vessels Inspection
Questionnaire). He has to show to the Inspector ships condition and
crews certificates, also cargo papers and vessels records. Preparation of
deck machinery and antipollution gear for the deck and engine machinery,
as well as log books and records from the engine department have to be
checked several times because these are the typical deficiencies.

Many practical issues occurred within the industry: Tanker owners and
managing companies complained about the image-problems that vetting
caused at a companys reputation, most oil companies and politicians did
not trust them as a result for more vetting, but these results was showed
that were not the best way for ensuring a ships quality and its ability of
carrying the cargo. After all, oil companies continued to distrust shipping
companies and the problem got worse.

Finally it was revealed that there were other available data containing
information about shipping companies; including casualty records, costs,
processes and surveys. The shipping companies came to the conclusion
that if these data were better-shared, everybody would know the condition
of the ships and the worthiness of the companies, so that the complied
ships would not anymore be examined continuously from vetting
inspectors. Also crews effectiveness would be increased and the safety of
a ship would be much improved.
Tanker Vetting and Inspection

This two day Tanker Vetting and Inspection

course is aimed at developing an appreciation of the key practical issues for anyone
involved with vetting and tanker inspections.
During this course you will be encouraged to explore real life scenarios and participate in
technical exercises to enhance your learning experience.

Who will benefit?

Anyone involved in the operation of tankers. The course has been developed and will be
delivered by a tanker vetting and inspection specialist. Some key learning points are:

Knowing the rules

Overview of SOLAS, MARPOL, STCW and ISGOTT

How the vetting decision is made

An introduction to spot chartering and vetting

Why do oil companies inspect tankers

Background

Vetting and risk management

Assessment of vessel acceptability the vetting tools (commercial information,

casualty reports, terminal feedback etc.)

How the vetting decision is made

The SIRE programme

 The operating principles of SIRE

How reports are accessed by recipients

What the delivered reports look like

Using the VIQs for SIRE self-inspections

Reporting defects and corrective actions The defect management system

SIRE inspections key issues

Overall safety

Conduct of the inspection

The SIRE report editor The inspectors reporting tool

Inspector observations

Other comments, additional comments

The new officer qualification matrix

Getting ready and staying ready for inspections

Oil Record Book

Analysis of parts I and II of an oil record book. How to review the excerpts and record
where the entries may reveal problems or irregularities.

The inspection

First impressions

The opening meeting

Important certificates and documentation

o ESP documentation

o Officers licences
 Hours of rest records

Wheelhouse and navigation

Communications

External areas

Maindeck, and focsle

Oil spill protection

Cargo and crude oil washing piping

Fire lines and other piping

Manifold area, gangways

IG distribution system

Deck water seal, non return valve

PV breaker, IG branch piping

Cargo tank venting and secondary venting systems

Assessment of tank condition

Ballast water sampling

Mooring systems

Pumproom

Cargo operations and cargo control room, engine room

PPE, documentation

Engine control room

The walk round, oily water separator

Steering gear

Accommodation internal

De-briefing with the master

 Dealing with SIRE inspectors

Dealing with inspection reports

How it is and how it can be done

Assessment

Understanding of international rules, ISGOTT, the SIRE programme and VIQ,

vetting and the inspection process
Duties of 2nd Engineer on Ship
One of the most important positions in the hierarchy level of maritime professionals
working on the ship is the position of Second engineer. As the position comes under the
management level category, second engineers job is not only limited to carry out his own
duties but also to look after the entire operation of the engine room and other technical
aspects of the ship.

The 2nd engineer provides utmost assistance to the Chief engineer for running the ship
efficiently. Moreover, second engineer is also in-charge of all the operational
engineers and the crew of the engine room. He ensures for their personnel safety and
routine duties. He also plans the overallmaintenance of all the machinery present in the
engine room of the ship.

Credits: depositphotos.com

Duties of 2nd Engineer

A brief description of the duties of second engineer is as follows:

Safety

1. Safety of Personnel: Second engineer is responsible for risk assessment,

briefing and safety training of the entire engine crew, especially for the junior
engineers and fresh crew.
 2. LSA and FFA: He is responsible for operation and maintenance of life saving
appliances and fire fighting appliances.

3. Emergency equipment: All the emergency machinery and equipments

under SOLAS are responsibility of second engineer.

4. Rest hours: The rest hour of all the individual working in the engine room
has to be taken care of by the second engineer as per STCW.

Pollution Prevention

1. Pollution Prevention Machineries: He is the person in-charge of Pollution

prevention equipment onboard like OWS, Sewage plant, incinerator etc.

2. Oil transfer: He is responsible for all oil transfer operations carried out
onboard includingbunkering.

3. Pollution prevention plan: He is responsible for implementation

of SOPEP and other the equipments involved with the same.

4. Sludge and bilge: Second engineer has to keep the engine room bilge clean
of oil and oily water. All tank parameters are to be recorded for sludge and bilge
system.

5. Regulations: All the rules and regulation related to MARPOL has to be

applied and implemented by the second engineer.

Engine Room Management

1. Responsibility: He is the in-charge for managing the engine room staff and
carrying out duties of the engine room.

2. Assistance: He directly reports to the chief engineer and also becomes the
in-charge of the engine room on his absence/behalf.
 3. Job distribution: He distributes and assigns duties to all the engine crew
members and acts as supervisor to them.

4. Housekeeping: He is also the in-charge of engine room housekeeping and

engine room garbage management.

5. Spares and inventory: Second engineer is responsible for storing all the
spares properly and keeping and maintaining record of the spares inventory.

Operation and Maintenance of Machinery

1. Engine room and deck machinery: The second engineer is responsible for
the maintenance of all the engine room and deck machinery.

2. Safe operation: He is responsible to make sure all the machineries and

safety systems are working safely, efficiently and within the provided parameters.

3. PMS and BMS: Planned maintenance system(PMS) is to be implemented by

the second engineer and in case of any breakdown maintenance (BMS), should be
immediately taken care of by him.

Documentation

1. Record keeping: Different records of the engine room have to be

maintained and updated regularly. This is the responsibility of the second engineer. A
few examples of important records are log book, bell book, Saturday or Monday
routine book etc.

2. Spare Inventory: All the spares for engine room machineries

like pumps, auxiliary engine etc are to be stored and inventory to be maintained and
updated regularly.

3. Oil inventory: The quantity for oil present in the tanks for machinery
operation like lube oil, fuel or diesel oil etc has to be recorded in an oil record book. A
track for the next bunker order also needs to be maintained.

4. PMS: The planned maintenance system paper work like updating the
maintenance data etc. is to be completed under the second engineer supervision.

Training
 1. He is responsible for familiarising the crew member with safety features of
the ship such as emergency escape, life boat, sopep etc.

2. He should supervise the engine crew for training them to operate pollution
prevention machineries like OWS, sewage plant etc.

3. He is responsible to train the crew members for various emergency

situations like flooding, fire, pirates attack and abandon ship etc.

This is a general overview of the duties of second engineer on board a ship. Second
engineer is the most influencing personality in the engine room and needs to have great
leadership quality apart from stoic and cool mindset.
Understanding Design Of Oil Tanker
Ships
Tankers have been one of the oldest types of merchant ships; the need for these vessels
arising due to heterogeneous distribution of natural oil reserves and liquid chemicals
around the globe. The most common types of tankers operating at sea are oil tankers.
While it may seem that oil tankers generally carry oil, the fact has quite more to it, if
understood in detail. Which brings us to the need to understand that since there are
different grades of oil (depending on the levels of purification), oil tankers have been
designed separately and specifically to carry different oil types.

It is important to have a brief look into the history of oil tankers, especially to understand
the dynamics of the oil market and relate its influence on the sizes of oil tankers used in
different eras. The size of oil tankers had seen a rapid increase in the mid-seventies due to
abundance in oil trade, and as a result, for the first time, tankers of deadweight in the
ranges of 100000-200000 lakh metric tonnes were constructed in Japan to be able to carry
more quantity of oil in a single voyage, and hence reduce the freight costs for more profits.
But in the late nineties, due to the skyrocketing of oil prices, the quantity of oil being traded
by sea had considerably reduced, hence almost putting an end to building of ULCC (Ultra
Large Crude Carrier) and VLCC (Very Large Crude Carrier).
 Fig 1. ULCC (Image credits : Wikipedia)

These tanker ships can be categorised into different types, based on two criteria Size
and Type of cargo.

Based on size, oil tankers have been categorised into the following types:

1. Small Range (Product) Tanker: 10,000 to 60,000 tons DWT.

2. Panamax Tanker: 60,000 to 78,000 tons DWT.

3. Aframax (Average Freight Rate Assessment) Tanker: 80,000 to 1,20,000

tons DWT.

4. Suezmax Tanker: 1,20,000 to 2,00,000 tons DWT.

5. VLCC (Very Large Crude Carrier): 2,00,000 to 3,20,000 DWT.

6. ULCC (Ultra Large Crude Carrier): 3,20,000 to 5,50,000 DWT.

The classification of oil tankers based on type of cargo is not a clear and fixed
classification, because these are terms used by different nations and organizations based
on their ease of nomenclature. Some of the most commonly used types of tankers are
listed below. We will also understand, how different types of tankers are designed to carry
a specific type of cargo.

Product Tankers: These tankers are designed to carry hydrocarbon products like
kerosene, gasoline, paraffin, etc., chemical products like ammonia, monomers, etc., wines,
molasses, etc. Though, now, chemical tankers, LPG and LNG carriers are classified
differently due to significant uniqueness in their designs as compared to petroleum product
tankers. Product tankers are usually short range coastal tankers, hence are smaller in
capacity. They carry products from processing plants to distribution units.

Image Credits: BoH/wikimedia.org

Crude Oil Carriers: Crude oil carriers are designed to transport crude oil from rigs to
processing units (refineries). Since the amount of crude oil extracted from offshore drilling
platforms is considerably larger than the amount of products extracted from it, crude oil
tankers are required to be of sizes larger than product tankers. Sizes like that of VLCCs
and ULCCs are only used for crude oil tankers, and these are usually ships that ply on
long range voyages.

Chemical Tankers: Chemical products like ammonia, palm oil, vegetable oils, monomers,
caustic soda, methanol, etc. These ships have considerable uniqueness in their design,
owing to the special requirements depending on the type of cargo. We will discuss these
aspects in a later part of this article when we discuss design of different tankers. Chemical
tankers are usually categorised into three types:

Type 1: These tankers are designed to carry products that are associated with severe
environmental and safety related hazards. Such products require maximum prevention of
spill.

Type 2: They are also designed for hazardous products, but the extent of severity for
these products is lesser as compared to Type 1.

Type 3: These are designed to carry chemical cargo that requires moderate standards of
containment and pose moderate environmental and safety hazards.

2. LNG and LPG Carriers: These ships actually fall under the category of liquefied gas
carriers, and a large number of them are in service to carry liquefied gases in bulk. The
number of ships that carry Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) is however, much more than
the number of ships carrying Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG). We shall look into some of their
design aspects in another article to understand what makes them very unique from other
types of tankers.

With an overview of the different types of tankers and each of their functionality, we will
now look into the important design aspects of each of them. It is important for you to keep
in mind from now, to observe how every design decision that is made, is directly or
indirectly related to a functional aspect of the ship. We will relate every design aspect with
the inter-related functional or market-based reason that governs it.

Design Aspects of Oil Tankers

Hullform:
The most notable feature of any ship is the geometry and form of its hull. The design of an
oil tanker is a weight-based design, which means, the dimensions of an oil tanker would be
governed by the weight of cargo to be carried. (The other type of design is volume-based
design, where the dimensions of the ship are determined by the volume of cargo spaces
required in the vessel. For example, container ships.) Since the weight of oil to be carried
in a single voyage is to be maximised, it is preferable to have maximum spaces for cargo
oil tanks. Also, oil tankers ply at very low speeds since the cargo is not perishable. Both
the aforementioned factors come together to determine the full-form shape of an oil tanker.
In other words, an oil tanker would have higher Coefficient of Buoyancy as compared to
ships of finer hullform (e.g. container ships).
 Figure 2: Hullforms of oil tanker (full-form) and container ship (fine-form).

Note, in Figure 2, the fullness of the hullform of an oil tanker at the forward part, compared
to that of a container ship. Unlike a streamlined fine hullform, this shape caters well to low
speeds and maximum cargo capacity. However, the blunt forward shape gives rise to eddy
and wave-breaking at the forward part, resulting in increased wave-breaking and eddy-
making resistance.

General Arrangement:

The most important design drawing that is to be studied in order to identify the design of a
ship, is its General Arrangement Drawing. Figure 3 illustrates the profile view of an oil
tankers general arrangement. It basically shows the arrangement of all the spaces within
the ship, and gives a frame-by-frame location of every space, bulkheads, and other
primary structures.
 Figure 3: General Arrangement (Profile view of a product oil tanker)

Some of the design details of an oil tanker will be well understood by referring to the profile
view. The cargo oil tanks (C.O.Ts) are usually equally sized, and the dimensions of each
are decided by the designer in the initial stage of design, depending on the total weight of
oil to be carried by the ship. The access to each COT is separate, and is provided by
means of rung ladders or hoist-able steps from the main deck.

The main deck of an oil tanker is usually mounted with a network of pipelines that are used
to load and unload cargo oil to and from the ship. Flexible hoses are attached to the
pipelines for completion of the process.

Guess Why: Bulk carriers have deck-mounted cranes to load and unload cargo. Some
container ships also have deck cranes for loading, unloading and stowage of containers.
But, in-spite of carrying liquid cargo, why do most oil-tankers have at least one deck crane.
Why? Try to reason it out, till we find the answer at some later point in the article.

The engine room and superstructure, as usual, are located at the aft. But, one notable
feature in oil tankers, that is not found in other types of ships is the pump room, that is
usually located just forward of the engine room. The pump room houses all the pumps
required for cargo oil loading and discharge.

Bulbous Bow:

Today, all tankers are equipped with a bulbous bow, so as to increase the power efficiency
of the ship. Though these are slow speed ships, a bulbous bow reduces the wave making
resistance considerably. However, the shape and geometry of the bulb differs significantly
from those of high speed ships. We will understand how and why.
 Figure 4: Three types of bulb shapes (Looking Aft)

There are three basic bulb shapes, when looked from forward to aft of the ship, as shown
in Figure 4. The Delta type bulb has more volume concentrated at the lower half, than the
upper half. This property makes it advantageous to be used in ships that have frequent
changes in waterline, as more concentration of bulb volume at the lower portion ensures
bulb immersion for a larger range of waterlines and loading conditions.

The O-type bulb has maximum volume concentrated at the center. This is used for most
ships that require a cylindrical bow shape, for example- bulk carriers.

The Nabla type bulb is almost shaped like that of a tear-drop, with more volume
concentrated at the top. This shape of bulb is preferred in ships that are to be equipped
with exceptional sea-keeping abilities, for example warships.

Which of the three above types do you think is most preferred for an oil tanker? In order to
answer that, we will need to look into the functional aspects of an oil tanker. Most tankers
carry cargo only on one leg of their voyage, and the other leg is usually made on ballast.
The ballast waterline of ships is different from the fully loaded waterline, though the
difference is less. But, this frequent alteration in waterline requires the bulbous bow to be
immersed at all loading conditions. Hence, as quite apparent now, tankers are equipped
with delta-type bulbous bow. Bulbous bow in a tanker is also advantageous because it acts
as a ballast space to control the trim of the vessel in light conditions, thus reducing bow
slamming.
Structural Design:

The structural design of oil tankers vary according to the type and size of the tanker. To
understand them, we will study their midship sections in detail.

Small Coastal / Single Hull Tankers:

Most product tankers and coastal tankers are small in size, and are single hull designs,
that is, they do not have a double bottom. However, recent MARPOL (Marine Pollution)
Rules require tankers over 120 m length to be double hulled irrespective of the type of
cargo.

Figure 4: Three types of bulb shapes (Looking Aft)

A trunk is a raised structure that runs along the length of these ships, and provides space
for access to the cargo oil tanks. The bottom shell, deck plating, and trunk plating are
longitudinally framed to add to the longitudinal strength of the ship. The side shells are
transversely framed, and the reason behind that is a very interesting design aspect:

If the side shells were longitudinally framed, then cargo oil can accumulate on the space
between the stiffeners and the side-shell even after the oil is pumped out (because pumps
do not discharge the entire volume of oil, and some amount of oil always remains in the
inaccessible corners of the tanks). This phenomenon is shown in Figure 6 below, and it
has two major effects: One, it leads to contamination of cargo. Two, prolonged
accumulation leads to corrosion of the stiffeners.

Figure 6: Accumulation of cargo oil on side-shell longitudinal stiffeners.

The stringer on the side-shell is usually added to reduce the depth of the transverse frame,
which would otherwise be much higher and reduce the useful volume of the cargo oil tank.

Brackets are used to create a path for flow of stress from the side shell stiffener to the
deck longitudinals and bottom shell longitudinals. A deep web frame (shown at the right
half of Figure 5) is usually placed at every three or four frame spaces. It is a continuous
structure that runs along the deck plating, side shell plating, bottom plating and centerline
bulkhead. Horizontal stringers run through these deep webs, and help in reducing the
depth of the webs to save cargo space. The span of each longitudinal stiffener is equal to
that of three or four frame spaces, that is, both ends of each longitudinal stiffener (on deck
plating and bottom plating) is welded to subsequent web frames.

Double Hull Tankers:

All oil tankers of length above 120 m are required to be double hulled, as per MARPOL
rules. Panamax, Aframax, Suezmax, VLCC and ULCC tankers are all double-hulled. The
primary reason for providing two hulls is to prevent the contact of cargo oil with the
external environment in case of any structural damage to the hull.
 Figure 7: Midship section of a double hull tanker.

The above figure is the midship section of a double hull tanker. The right half of the
drawing shows an ordinary frame, where the outer and inner hull plates are longitudinally
framed. The centre tank is used for storage of cargo oil, and the wing tanks or segregated
ballast tanks (SBTs) are used for carrying sea water ballast. The SBTs are epoxy coated
so as to prevent corrosion. Do observe that the longitudinal stiffeners on the wing tank
longitudinal bulkhead are placed towards the wing tank, and not the centre cargo oil tank.
Why? In order to prevent oil accumulation on them. The double bottom spaces are also
used for water ballast, and the stiffeners on the inner bottom plating are always towards
the double bottom space.

A deep transverse web frame (left half of the above figure) is given at every three to four
frame spaces in order to provide transverse strength to the ship. The longitudinal stiffeners
are welded to these web frames. Stringers are provided on these transverse webs to
provide further strengthening.
Today, irrespective of the classification society certifying the design of a tanker, the
structural design of double hull tankers is done according to The Harmonised Common
Structural Rules (CSR) for Tankers, by IACS.

5. Power and Propulsion:

Since tankers are low speed vessels (average maximum cruising speed is 15.5 knots),
and are not restricted by space constraints, they can afford to be run by large slow speed
marine diesel engines. These engines occupy more space than high speed marine diesel
engines, but provided more shaft efficiency, and gearbox losses are eradicated since the
RPM of the engine is same as that of the propeller. Usually, large diameter and low RPM
propellers are used for more propulsive efficiency.

6. Systems On-board:

Oil tankers have a number of systems that are unique to its operation. We will discuss the
most important ones in brief.

Cargo Oil Heating System: Ships carrying crude oil are equipped with this
system, as crude oil is heavy and becomes very sluggish and thick in cold
environments, which can block the pumps and pipelines during discharge. So,
cargo oil heating system is used to maintain the suitable temperatures and
viscosity of cargo oil in holds.

Cargo Tank Venting System: Did you know that cargo oil tanks are never
pressed full so as to allow space for oil vapour? But, at the same time, these
vapours, being highly inflammable, are not allowed to accumulate in the cargo
tanks. Proper venting systems allow the vapours to escape from enclosed spaces.

Overflow Control System: This system uses a level and pressure cascade
control to ensure that the level of oil in the tank does not exceed the design head.
High level alarms and spill valves are connected to the system in order to take
correct action in case of anomaly.

Inert Gas System: The space between the free surface of the cargo oil and
the top plating of the tank is to be kept inert, in order to prevent access of oxygen,
so that even in case of any accumulation of oil vapour, a situation of fire is avoided.
This is done by continuous supply and regulation of inert gas in cargo oil tanks.
 The space above the oil surface is ensured to be completely occupied by inert gas.
The most common gases used for this purpose are Argon and Carbon-dioxide.

Fire Fighting System: The fire-fighting systems on board an oil tanker is the
most vital for the ships safety, and is designed as per the MARPOL rules. Fire
hoses, extinguishers and sprinklers are distributed along the ships length and
breadth for access to all points. CO2 bottle room just above the engine room to
allow CO2 flooding in the engine room during engine room fire.

Answer to Guess Why: Most oil tankers are provided with at least one deck-crane so as
to handle the cargo oil hoses during discharge and loading of cargo oil, when the hoses
are to be removed from stowage points and connected to the discharge manifolds on the
ships deck.

To conclude, though this article does discuss about a lot of design issues and features of
an oil tanker, the scope of this article is limited to a concept design stage. A detailed study
on tanker design can be done by studying on not only the naval architectural aspects, but
also an in-depth study of every system and their operation and interaction with other
systems on board. Further, a good designer should also be well read in all the MARPOL
and HCSR rules that govern the design of oil tankers today.
What is an Inert Gas or IG System on
Ships?
Oil tankers carry oil of different grades and quality, having property to produce flammable
vapors and gases when loaded for transportation. Even with no cargo on board, there can
be harmful flammable gases present in the hold. When the vapor produced by an oil cargo
is mixed with certain concentration of air primarily containing oxygen, it can result in
explosion which results in damages to the property, marine pollution and loss of life

For safety against such explosion, Inert gas system is used on board. It can be through as
a separate inert gas plant or flue gas produced by ships boiler.

What is Inert gas and Inert gas system?

Inert gas system is the most important integrated system for oil tankers for safe operation
of the ship.
Inert gas is the gas which contains insufficient oxygen (normally less then 8 %) to
suppress combustion of flammable hydrocarbon gases.

Inert gas system spreads the inert gas over the oil cargo hydrocarbon mixture which
increases the lower explosion limit LEL (lower concentration at which the vapors can be
ignited), simultaneously decreasing the Higher explosion limit HEL (Higher concentration
at which vapor explodes). When the concentration reaches around 10 %, an atmosphere
is created inside tank in which hydrocarbon vapors cannot burn. The concentration of inert
gas is kept around 5% as a safety limit.

Components and description of IG system:

The following components are used in a typical inert gas system in oil tankers:

1. Exhaust gases source: inert gas source is taken from exhaust uptakes of boiler or
main engine as contains flue gases in it.

2. Inert gas isolating valve: It serve as the supply valve from uptake to the rest of the
system isolating both the systems when not in use.

3. Scrubbing tower: Flue gas enters the scrub tower from bottom and passes through a
series of water spray and baffle plates to cool, clean and moist the gases. The SO2 level
decreases up to 90% and gas becomes clear of soot.

4. Demister: Normally made of polypropylene, it is used to absorb moisture and water

from the treated flue gas.

5. Gas Blower: Normally two types of fan blowers are used, a steam driven turbine
blower for I.G operation and an electrically driven blower for topping up purpose.

6. I.G pressure regulating valve: The pressure within the tanks varies with the property
of oil and atmospheric condition. To control this variation and to avoid overheating of
blower fan, a pressure regulator valve is attached after blower discharge which re-
circulates the excess gas back to scrubbing tower.
7. Deck seal: Purpose of the deck seal is to stop the gases to return back which are
coming from the blower to cargo tanks. Normally wet type deck seals are used. A demister
is fitted to absorb the moisture carried away by the gases.

8. Mechanical non return valve: It is an additional non return mechanical device inline
with deck seal.

9. Deck isolating valve: The engine room system can be isolated fully with the deck
system with the help of this valve.

10. Pressure Vacuum (PV) breaker: The PV breaker helps in controlling the over or
under pressurization of cargo tanks. The PV breaker vent is fitted with flame trap to avoid
fire to ignite when loading or discharging operation is going on when in port.
11. Cargo tank isolating valves: A vessel has numbers of cargo holds and each hold is
provided with an isolating valve. The valve controls the flow of inert gas to hold and is
operated only by a responsible officer in the vessel.

12. Mast riser: Mast riser is used to maintain a positive pressure of inert gas at the time of
loading of cargo and during the loading time it is kept open to avoid pressurization of cargo
tank.

13. Safety and alarm system: The Inert gas plant is provided with various safety features
to safeguard the tank and its own machinery.

Following are various alarms (with Shutdown) incorporated in the Inert Gas plant on board
ship:

High Level in scrubber leads to alarm and shutdown of blower and scrubber
tower

Low pressure sea water supply (approx. 0.7 bar) to scrubber tower leads to
alarm and shutdown of blower

Low pressure sea water supply (approx. 1.5 bar) to deck seal leads to alarm
and shutdown of blower

High inert gas temperature (approx. 70 deg C) leads to alarm and shutdown
of blower

Low pressure in line after blower (approx. 250mm wg) leads to alarm and
shutdown of blower

Oxygen content high (8%) leads to alarm and shutdown of gas delivery to
deck

Low level in deck seal leads to alarm and shutdown of gas delivery to deck

Power failure leads to alarm and shutdown of blower and scrubber tower

Emergency stop leads to alarm and shutdown of blower and scrubber tower

Following are various alarms incorporated in the Inert Gas plant:

 Scrubber low level

Deck seal High level

Low O2 Content (1%)

High O2 Content (5%)

Low lube oil pressure alarm

Working of Inert Gas Plant

 Image for representation purpose only. All rights reserved.

The basis of inert gas production in the IG plant is the flue gas generated from the ships
boiler. The high temperature gas mixture from the boiler uptake is treated in an inert gas
plant which cleans, cools and supplies the inert gas to the individual tanks via PV valves
and breakers to ensure safety of tank structure and atmosphere.

The system can be divided into two basic groups:

a) A production plant to produce inert gas and deliver it under pressure, by means of
blower(s), to the cargo tanks.

b) A distribution system to control the passage of inert gas into the appropriate cargo tanks
at the required time.
 Image for representation purpose only. All rights reserved.

Brief working procedure

1. Boiler uptake gases are drawn to the scrubber unit via flue gas isolating
valve(s) to the scrubber unit.

2. In the scrubber unit the gas is cooled, cleaned and dried before being
supplied in to the tanks.
3. Motor driven inert gas blowers supplies the treated gas from scrubber tower
to the tanks through . They are mounted on rubber vibration absorbers and isolated
from the piping by rubber expansion bellows.

4. Regulation of gas quantity delivered to deck is taken care of by the gas

control valves and the deck pressure is managed by pressure controller. If the deck
pressure is lower than the set point the output signal will be raised to open the valve
more, and vice versa if the deck pressure is lower than the set-point. These valves
will then work in cooperation to keep both the deck pressure / blower pressure at
their respective set point without starving or overfeeding the circuit.

5. Before entering the deck line, the gas passes through the deck water seal
which also acts as non-return valve automatically preventing the back-flow of
explosive gases from the cargo tanks.

6. After the deck seal the inert gas relief is mounted to balance built-up deck
water seal pressure when the system is shut down. In case of a failure of both the
deck seal and the non-return valve, the relief valve will vent the gases flowing from
the cargo tank into the atmosphere

7. The oxygen analyser which is fitted after the blower separates the
production and distribution components of the plant and analyzes the oxygen
content of the gas and if it is more than 8%, it alarms and shut downs the plant