BUNKERING BEST PRACTICES — SAFE BUNKERING OPERATIONS IN WASHINGTON STATE

The present manual will give readers very useful and practical tips helping them to prevent dangerous oil spills. The authors of the guidebook encourage the crew members of all vessels operating in the area covered, i.e. Washington waters, to use the content for developing their bunkering policies and perform internal training. Establishing and using responsible and effective procedures for the transfer of oil will eventually reduces the number of the oil spill incidents and greatly contribute in the environment protection.

All of the practices that have been highlighted in the pages of this volume are meant to create a sort of the oil spill prevention mindset during the bunkering activities. Note that they are not intended to substitute the procedures on board the vessel or replace any of the federal requirements of the USCG. We all know that the fatigue and lack of attention couples with the poor communication and unclear procedures and policies are considered root causes of the oil spills.

The readers will start with the information on the oil spill reporting and then proceed to the bunker procedure checklist, duties of the watchstanders and personnel, training required to be performed for the bunker crew, operations during and after bunkering etc. This compact publication will shed some light on the important aspects of bunkering in the Washington waters; however the content will be equally useful to the crew members of the ships operating elsewhere.