Features: - Tanker Operator

TECHNOLOGY - EMISSIONS CONTROL SYSTEMS
VOC management
plan services
available
As is already well known, or should be by now, by 1st July, this year, all tankers
carrying crude oil will be required to implement and maintain on board
an approved ship-specific VOC (volatile organic compounds) plan.
This is in accordance with
regulation 15.6 of the revised
MARPOL Annex VI. The VOC
management plan is required in
order to obtain a MARPOL International Air
Pollution Prevention (IAPP) certificate.
Basically, VOC emissions are air pollutants,
which need to be controlled in the global effort
to reduce the harmful effects of atmospheric
pollution. VOCs from crude oil transports are a
mixture of light-end components in crude oil,
which can be emitted from oil and oil products
during production, processing, loading,
transport, unloading and storage.
The lightest component, mainly methane,
contributes to the greenhouse effect, while the
heavier components, mainly propane and
butane, contribute to the formation of groundlevel
ozone. The purpose of the VOC
management plan is to ensure that tankers
prevent or minimise VOC emissions, as far as
is possible.
Several organisations have issued guidelines
and are offering services aimed at smoothing
the path to compliance with the new
regulation.
Approval service
One - the Liberian Registry - is offering
tanker owners and operators a VOC
management plan review and approval
service.
“
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The registry has put in place a scheme
whereby tankers owners and operators whose
ship fly the Liberian flag can have their VOC
management plans expertly and costeffectively
reviewed and approved by the
Liberian administration.
Captain David Pascoe, senior vice-president
of the Liberian International Ship & Corporate
Registry (LISCR), the US-based manager of
the Liberian Registry, said, “Regulatory
compliance is becoming an increasingly
onerous task in the shipping industry, and
responsible ship registers can take some of the
burden off their clients in this respect by
adopting a proactive approach to issues such
as this.
“Liberia believes in helping to make
shipping a greener industry, and our clients
will have full access to the proven global
expertise of our dedicated audit and inspection
teams in helping them achieve IAPP
certification,” he said.
Elsewhere, class society Germanischer
Lloyd (GL) has advised its clients that the
plan approval procedure will be as follows:
1) The owner is to send the ship-specific
VOC management plan as a word
template, or in pdf form, by email to GL
for review and comment.
2) GL returns comments by email to owner.
3) The owner updates his submission
accordingly and sends a final version to GL.
“...responsible ship registers can take some
of the burden off their clients in this respect
by adopting a proactive approach
to issues such as this.”
- LISCR
”
4) GL approves and returns the manual.
A ship-specific VOC management plan must,
at the least, provide written procedures for
minimising VOC emissions during:
Loading of cargo.
Sea passage.
Discharge of cargo.
In addition, VOCs generated during crude oil
washing need to be considered, GL warned.
Korean stance
For the convenience of its shipowner
members, the Korean Register has also said
that it is providing a VOC management plan
drawing up service.
Where a vessel is classed with KR, the fee
for the initial drawing up service is $2,436,
while the initial approval fee of $795 will not
be charged.
In the case where an owner/operator
has drawn up his or her own plan and
only requires the approval service, the fee
is $795.
Where there are a series of sister vessels
involved, only 30% of the fee for the initial
drawing up/approval process shall be charged
from the second vessel onwards.
As for a non-KR classed vessel, an extra
50% of the above fee shall be charged. In
addition, an extra $50 shall be charged in case
of Panama flagged vessel.
Considering that the number of the KRclassed
tankers subject to VOC management
plan regulations is around 100 vessels, the
register said that a deluge of drawing
up/approval applications is anticipated at
the end of June 2010, which is the final
deadline.
Therefore, it is highly recommended that
shipowners apply for the drawing up and/or
approval service early, and not later than
TO
31st May 2010.
TANKEROperator June 2010