Cargo Handling

The main purpose of the present guide is to provide a thorough reference which might be useful to various port authorities as well as operating management of LNG carriers and terminals in reviewing or developing their planning in order to avoid the accidents or at lease reduce their possibility. The publication would also be quite helpful in controlling the possible consequences of such accidents happening within the port limits.

This second (revised) edition takes into account the STCW Convention and SOLAS IX as well as the ISM Code. It covers ships in transit and operation, ships alongside, public relations and periodic review. Note, however, that the present publication shall not be treated as a comprehensive technical manual on contingency planning since the authors have confined this document to the aspect directly relating to the carriage and handling of gases.

The circumstances influencing the contingency planning may vary from port to ports in the matters such as nautical/weather considerations, types of cargo being handled, authorities etc. When preparing this document, broader interpretation of the term "contingency planning" was taken, including considerations related to the accident prevention and control of possible consequences. 

The present Guide would mostly be applicable to all liquid gas carriers both at sea and approaches to the ports; it has been released by the working group with the assistance from members of OCIMF, ICS, SIGTTO and ISU aiming to provide a thorough reference that would be useful to the operating managements of gas ships in reviewing or developing their contingency planning.

The contingency plans supplement the SOPEP required for all ships >400 GT as per the Annex I to MARPOL. Regardless of how the liquefied gas is carried (pressure/temperature being meant), the cargo containment shall not be treated as part of the vessel's structure. Such containments are in all cases located inboard of the vessel's side plus above the bottom. The big portion of this booklet has been taken from the CPD (contingency planning document) that have been formulated by the managing teams of a number of companies within the shipping industry.

The present guide is mainly addressed at the ship operating companies  and assumes some general understanding of the cargo characteristics as well as of the design, construction and, of course, operation of the gas carrying ships. Definitely useful publication not only to the managerial stuff but also all personnel.

The cargo access equipment used on board vessels include hatch covers, ramps and elevators, doors (bow, stern and side) as well as movable decks, and all of them serve the purpose of facilitating the cargo loading and discharging operations. In total, the equipment listed above may account for about ten percent of the initial cost of the ship.

And, despite of the huge importance, which is enhanced by the developing Ro-Ro shipping, no decent publication n this matter has ever been released. In this publication, we are trying to deal with all aspects of shipboard cargo access, including the description of the basic equipment, design requirements, economic aspects of selection and operation of the cargo access equipment, ad, of course, performance in service issues. Some useful material relating to the weights and stowage requirements, has also been added to the contents of the book.

Apart from that, there is some background information included on vessel types and cargo handling techniques. Note that the authors did not confine it to MacGregor products - the material included was drawn from all over the world. Though the editors are not specialists in this sort of equipment, their experience in ship design and operation and their engineering background make this book very helpful and practical.

The purpose of the present SIGTTO publication is to provide a proper explanation of how insulation flanges protect from ignition caused by arcing. It contains information on the inductive circuits, electrical characteristics of the cargo transfer hoses together with the supporting calculations, some examples of the effects of hose inductance and resistance, information on the effect of capacitance, testing of the flanges and multiple loading arms and parallel circuits, all supplemented with the list of definitions and conclusions and recommendations.

The insulation flanges have been used for several decades; their effectiveness is sometimes seriously challenged, though there have been no reported fire incidents on the manifolds installed on board of tankers or gas carriers. This shall be taken into consideration by the ship operators having a background of road tanker operations, supplying the LNG as fuel oil.

Since this document mainly concentrates on the protection from arcing-caused fires, we would definitely consider it very important and recommended to everyone involved in such sort of operations as the info provided in the booklet might help in improving the operational safety.

The present practical publication belongs to the series of guides released by Lloyd's. It is intended to provide readers with valuable advice that will help them in preventing claims commonly arising during the marine transportation of steels - these would include careful handling of the steel cargo, instructions for correct stowage and due care of the cargo throughout the whole journey.

The publication is covering every single important aspect of the marine transportation and is also providing some tips on how to conduct the survey of the steel products carried on board ships. The readers will know how to prevent possible damages to the cargo, how better deal with the claims, get familiarized with the manufacture of different steel products including packaging requirements for each particular type of steel product.

They will also receive professional instructions and guidance on the loading, stowage, lashing, securing and ventilation as well as on conducting proper maintenance of the hatch covers and tank tops including corrosion problem. The cargo documentation has also been dealt with together with surveying and handling of any claims. An excellent guidebook that shall be readily available on board.

This LNG/LPG Officer Experience Matrix is aimed to offer the transparent guidance for proper assessment of the risks relating to the officer complement. It considers a number of elements, including experience in rank, length of sea service, training assessment and experience in LNG/PLG operations.

When evaluating risk in the event of non-compliance with a particular element of the experience matrix, consideration should be given to other mitigating factors, including bespoke training, the manning scale in place, time with the LNG/LPG ship owner/operator the wider competence management systems employed by the ship operator in officer recruitment and development. In the meantime, it is very important to appreciate that subject matrix has been supplied to serve as a tool for the risk evaluation and management.

When dealing with the risk evaluation in case of non-compliance with the specific element of this matrix, due consideration is to be given to other mitigating factors involved, such as the manning scale, bespoke training and others. Careful attention to management of the risks has been widely recognized of the maintenance of the safety record of the ship and environment protection.

Here is a new edition of the LNG Custody Transfer Handbook reflecting the GIIGNL's technical understanding of the best practices. This handbook was prepared and released with the intention to serve as a reference manual assisting readers who want to better understand all equipment used by and procedures available to the GIIGNL members when determining the quantity of the energy of the gas which is being transferred between terminals and gas carrying ships; note that the present publication should not be treated as a technical specification/recognized standard.

At the same time, it shall be underlines that it was not the original intention of the authors of this handbook to provide detailed technical procedures of the ship-shore custody transfer of LNG; they rather tried to set out the practical requirements and issues to facilitate skilled operators to prepare suitable procedures for specific transfer operations.

The book starts with some introduction followed by general formulae and schemes of transfer as well as the instruments used, then there come parts that deal with the volume, temperature and vapor pressure measurement, sampling of gasified LNG, control devices and vaporizers, sampling procedures, gas analysis, calibration methods, density calculation and many other relevant technical info.

Here is a unique perfectly illustrated guidance booklet specifically designed to assist the marine surveyors and ship masters worldwide in checking the shipping documentation and make sure that is adequately describes the apparent order and technical condition of the steel when the cargo is loaded.

The publication recommends its readers a set of eighteen standard surface condition clauses supplemented with the sixteen mechanical damage clauses translated into eleven languages. The booklet is also intended to provide detailed guidance  related to the inspection of the openings located on the weather deck. Most of the steel products easily rust and bend when they are carried at sea, in particular. The owners and operators of he vessels are usually there on the firing line should the bent and rusted steel cargo arrive at the destination port.

This has resulted in the necessity of the regularly conducted pre-shipment surveys of the steel cargo in order to ensure that the bills of lading and mate's receipts, as applicable, are accurately and clearly describing both condition and apparent order of the steel cargo at the time of taking it on board the vessel. The marine surveyors also look at the weathertightness plus the ventilation arrangements of the holds intended for the transportation of the steel cargoes...