[en] This article outlines the losses involved with bulk handling of crude oil and summarises, on the basis of tests, typical losses experienced with ship loading of North Sea crude. It goes on to outline the prospects for crude vapour recovery based on experience gained from a demonstration plant indicating that recovery efficiencies of between 80-90 percent can be expected. (author)

[en] Some of the most frequent damages in the ship-mounted machinery occur in the propeller shaft system, and the most frequent damage is due to the exothermic accident occurs in the after stern tube bearing (STB). Recently, engine power and shaft diameter of very large crude-oil carriers (VLCCs) tend to increase whereas the distance between forward and after STB becomes shorter. In this study, the applicability of new shaft system for VLCCs adopting single STB system was investigated. The study results show that single STB system is quite possible by applying proper shaft arrangement and partial slope at the white metal. Also, a considerable economic effect is expected by simplifying related shaft system. (paper)

[en] This paper summarizes results of several oil spill and tanker traffic studies conducted by environmental organizations in the last year. The paper touches upon key features of pending federal oil spill legislation, then evaluates several recommended actions to reduce the risk of tanker groundings and collisions. The paper closes with a call for adequate funding for application of available preventive measures

[en] This paper describes the state of the technology regarding ship collision and grounding of oil tankers in Japan. First, recent maritime accidents and statistics for oil spills are introduced and the new regulation regarding ship structures is reviewed. Next, we show our recent experimental and numerical work on ship structural damages due to collision and grounding. Finally, we indicate some subjects to be improved in the numerical simulations. ((orig.))

[en] Coselle CNG carriers represent an emerging technology option for water-borne natural gas transportation. The idea behind the Coselle is to create a large but compact CNG storage system using pipe coiled into a carousel. The system promises to significantly improve the economics of shipping natural gas over short sea routes. This would unlock many gas reserves which are stranded because of the high costs associated with shipping natural gas by conventional tankers. The innovative patented technology for Coselle CNG carriers was described in this paper. The completed work on the technology is sufficient to allow a pilot project to proceed before the next step of commercialization of the technology. The technology can be applied in the Mediterranean Sea, the Caribbean Sea, the Arabian Sea, Sakhalin Island, Canada's east coast, Deepwater offshore Brazil and Gulf of Mexico, and West Africa. 4 refs., 1 tab., 5 figs

[en] Flow of liquid around bodies, movement of liquid in tubes and many phenomena in technology and nature are accompanied with the formation of breakaway zones the flows ion which most frequency turn out to be turbulent nature and are tree dimensional. In many cases these zones produce a notable impact on other parts of the flow, which impact can not be neglected

[en] In January 1997, the tanker Nakhodka sank in the Japan Sea, and more than 5000 tons of heavy oil leaked. The released oil contaminated more than 500 km of the coastline, and some still remained even by June 1999. To investigate the long-term influence of the Nakhodka oil spill on marine bacterial populations, sea water and residual oil were sampled from the oil-contaminated zones 10, 18, 22 and 29 months after the accident, and the bacterial populations in these samples were analysed by denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) of PCR-amplified 16S rDNA fragments. The dominant DGGE bands were sequenced, and the sequences were compared with those in DNA sequence libraries. Most of the bacteria in the sea water samples were classified as the Cytophaga-Flavobacterium-Bacteroides phylum, α-Proteobacteria or cyanobacteria. The bacteria detected in the oil paste samples were different from those detected in the sea water samples; they were types related to hydrocarbon degraders, exemplified by strains closely related to Sphingomonas subarctica and Alcanivorax borkumensis. The sizes of the major bacterial populations in the oil paste samples ranged from 3.4 x 10⁵ to 1.6 x 10⁶ bacteria per gram of oil paste, these low numbers explaining the slow rate of natural attenuation. (Author)

[en] Flooding of ship compartments is a very common event resulted from ships involvement in marine accidents, such us collision, grounding or structural breakdown. Once ship compartments are flooded to an extended level, the transverse stability starts to be affected and if the situation become dangerous, it can become critical or failing beyond the lower threshold values. In this damaged situation, a proper and accurate calculation and assessment of stability is very important. Calculation of damage stability for flooding situations is a very important subject for those who work in design and operation of ships. However, the subject was treated extensively in respect of tanker ships and less in respect of multipurpose cargo ships. The aim of work presented in this paper is to highlight some particular situations of flooding of compartments on board a multipurpose cargo ship when the stability parameters are decreasing enough so that fails to comply with recommended criteria. The particularity of the study for this type of ships came from the fact that are fitted with large box type cargo holds which in case of flooding are generating large free surface effects with a high negative impact on ship’s stability. Thus, four situations of flooding are presented and the analysis of stability parameters are illustrated in line with the actual regulations, in respect of damage stability, established by international conventions. Based on the results of calculations, the study gives recommendations regarding the actions to be taken in order to limit the dangerous consequences of such situations. The results of the particular flooding situations presented can be used to continue the improvement of design and operation for this type of ships. (paper)

[en] The vessel accident oil-spillage literature has focused on oil-cargo vessels, tankers and tank barges, implicitly assuming that these vessels incur greater accident oil-spillage than other (i.e., non-oil-cargo) vessels which just carry oil in their fuels tanks. This study investigates the validity of this assumption for the post US OPA-90 (Oil Pollution Act of 1990) period by investigating determinants of vessel accident oil-spillage, where one of the hypothesized determinants is type of vessel (including both oil-cargo and non-oil-cargo vessels). Tobit regression estimates of vessel accident oil-spillage functions suggest that tank barges have incurred greater in-water and out-of-water oil-spillage for the post OPA-90 period than non-oil-cargo vessels; alternatively, tankers have not incurred greater out-of-water (in-water) oil-spillage than non-oil-cargo vessels (except for freight ships). The policy implication is that greater attention needs to be given to reducing tank barge accident oil-spillage in the post OPA-90 period. (Author)

[en] According to the Canadian Shipping Act (CSA), the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans is required to review the capability of response organizations (RO) in meeting the arrangements required by ships and oil handling facilities. The Act requires that every Canadian oil tanker over 150 tons and every oil handling facility (OHF) that loads or unloads oil to or from a ship have an arrangement with an RO for which a certificate of designation has been issued showing that the RO has a response plan in place to meet the regulations respecting procedures, equipment and resources. This report deals with the certification and fee setting process and outlines the RO's ability to meet the arrangements required by ships and OHFs. The report suggests that the industry has the capacity to respond to a spill of up to 10,000 tonnes in any marine region of Canada, south of 60 degrees N latitude. This is in addition to the Canadian Cast Guard's capabilities which serve as a safety net to this regime, an immediate response capability as well as a response capability for offshore spills and spills north of 60 degrees latitude N. Needs for improvements have been identified, particularly in the use of ROs to respond to incidents, better Canadian Coast Guard (CCG) and RO integration in planning and equipment placement, as well as spill management. A list of planned legislative amendments, and standards improvement within the next two years is included. A map showing the location of depots where certified ROs, CCG and independent contractors have equipment for quick response in the event of an oil spill, is appended. tabs., figs