Potencial antioxidante de las especies colectadas

incidents that do occur provide valuable lessons

Sterling results from

safety-first focus

Valuable lessons have been learned from those cargo-handling equipment incidents that have occurred at the ship/shore interface

A SIGTTO/GIIGNL commemorative issue LNG shipping at 50I 77I 77

onboard LNG vessels and within terminals. The data is analysed in the drive to identify causes and minimise the risk of recurrences.

Incidents to date have mainly involved problems with machinery and cargo-handling systems and equipment. The machinery incidents include loss of propulsion and other system failures and blackouts. Most of the cargo-handling incidents have occurred at the ship/shore interface, especially during connection and disconnection of the marine loading arms on the jetty.

LNG carriers have also been involved in three high-speed grounding incidents. Although the vessels suffered substantial bottom damage as a result of the groundings, in no case was a cargo containment system breached. There have also been other LNGC groundings in port areas when the vessels were proceeding at slower speeds. Again, containment systems have remained intact in each of these occurrences.

LNGCs have also been involved in a few collision incidents, including two in the last 18 months. In the first a Q-flex LNG carrier and a container ship collided in the Singapore Straits and in the second an LPG carrier and an LNG carrier came together in Tokyo Bay.

Methane Princess, the first LNG carrier in commercial service, was struck by the vesselTower Princess while berthed at the Canvey Island terminal in the UK and the impact necessitated repairs to the gas carrier’s side shell. In another well-known incidentNorman Lady, while proceeding through the Strait of Gibraltar, was, almost unbelievably, struck by a US Navy submarine as it rose to periscope depth.

As was the case with the grounding incidents, no LNG carrier containment system was compromised as a result of the collisions. This achievement is a legacy of the extra safety margins and safe separation distances built into the srcinal rules governing the design of these vessels by the LNG shipping industry’s founding fathers mentioned above.

As regards LNG terminals the most serious accident was the explosion that destroyed three of the six liquefaction trains at the Skikda export terminal in Algeria in 2004. The explosion occurred during a routine boiler maintenance operation and was due to insufficient purging of the boiler. Some 26 workers were killed by the blast and 74 injured. As with all incidents in the LNG sector, detailed investigations were carried out

and remedial measures introduced. In this case new plant designs eliminated the need for boilers, which have been replaced with more efficient gas-fuelled turbines and compressors.

The LNG industry continues to expand and introduce new technologies. Larger ships with new types of propulsion system are now in service and the fleet continues to grow apace. FSRUs are also now part of the industry and FLNG vessels are about to be. All these advances ensure that there are many challenges in the liquefied gas shipping and terminal industry today.

Not least of these challenges is the supply of ship crews, shore support staff and trainers to provide the required number of trained and competent staff needed in an era of unprecedented growth.

In respect of training, the SIGTTO competency standards for crews onboard both LNG and LPG vessels have become the industry best practice recommendation. The standards provide operators with guidance as to the specific competencies each individual should possess before serving in that rank. These standards are above and beyond the minimum requirements of IMO’s Standards of Training Certification and Watchkeeping (STCW) Convention. There is similar competency guidance available for terminal operators and their staff.

Educating the public is extremely important for liquefied gas shipping, and the public needs to be made aware that gas carriers are not the “floating bombs” that some scare-mongerers portray them to be. Public perception is often that an incident on a gas carrier will result in a

huge explosion that may harm people and property in the vicinity. The public needs to learn that these vessels are robust ships, soundly designed and constructed and well equipped with safety and emergency systems.

The public also needs to be aware that catastrophic events caused by hydrocarbon gases in the liquid phase are few. As an example, in a fire accident scenario refrigerated liquefied gas tanks can burn until the fuel they contain is consumed but they are highly unlikely to explode.

Liquefied gas cargo-handling procedures can be complex and the cargo itself is potentially hazardous. For these reasons, personnel operating gas carriers and gas berths require a thorough understanding of ship and shore equipment and cargo properties. They need to have available good operating procedures so as to avoid accidents, and emergency plans should be in place in case an accident does occur.

LNG is increasingly being carried as a cargo at sea in ISO containers on conventional container ships and the use of LNG as a marine fuel also brings with it new risks and fresh challenges. A robust safety regime has been established and it is incumbent upon the shipping industry to make appropriate use of it, and, where necessary, adapt it to suit particular circumstances.

We look forward to celebrating 50 years of commercial LNG shipping in October 2014 and also, in the same month, 35 years of SIGTTO. We also look forward to this very responsible industry continuing to ensure the safe transportation of liquefied gases by sea. AC