Navigation standards slammed - Tanker Operator

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p24.qxd 09/05/2006 11:02 Page 1 INDUSTRY PROFILE Total - Shipowning is not for us An oil major explains its position on quality of operations and how it undertakes vetting procedures for its chartered fleet. The world's fifth ranked oil major, Paris-based Total, runs its tanker operations somewhat differently to that of its rivals. Quitting tanker owning in 1993, Total now covers its shipping requirements by using the charter market, which throws up the question of vetting the ships it charters. Having had its confidence shaken by the fall-out following the Erika sinking in 1999, the company has since put in place strict controls. No longer a shipowner, Total, however, operates around 70 tankers at any one time, mostly on longterm timecharter. Luc Gillet, vice president shipping explained that the company has no intention of returning to shipowning for the foreseeable future. The average length of a longterm timecharter is five years, plus options. Gillet's department assesses both the ship and the cargo after each and every voyage. At first when a tanker is put up for a charter, the vessel will be assessed based on the SIRE system plus other information sources and then the management and crewing will be assessed using an in-house adaptation of the Tanker Management Self-Assessment (TMSA) scheme before a final decision is made as to whether to employ the vessel. When assessing a ship, all the data available will be taken into consideration, including Equasis, Port State Control records, the vessel's classification society and other information sources. A risk assessment will then be taken against the value of the business. Once chartered, a vessel's voyage report will be reviewed following each trip and the company undertakes a strict regime of continuous inspections, which are carried out either physically or through the SIRE scheme. For chemical tankers, the CDI criteria are used. Gillet explained that they are two totally separate inspection systems and therefore cannot be compared. To assess the quality of the shipowner/manager and the crew, TMSA can be Luc Gillet, vice president shipping, Total used, Gillet said. The scheme's information criteria is first used and then the owner is audited using TMSA as a guide. "We are interested in quality," he said, "the assessment of the vessel and crew is very important." He explained that Total had adapted the TMSA scheme to its own formula in order to audit the vessel's shoreside and shipboard management. Total's inspection team of 15 surveyors working on an exclusive basis are accredited by OCIMF. Gillet stressed that if a vessel was found not to conform to the SIRE recommendations then it would not be recommended for charter. Long term charters Total is today primarily a long term charterer of tanker tonnage, although the short term spot charter market is also used to give the oil major greater flexibility. The company ceased its shipowning operations in 1993. The priority for Total's shipping department today, according to Gillet, is how to operate a fleet to serve the oil major's needs in all sectors. Flexibility is the key here as is the correct selection of partners - shipowners and managers. If there is a problem with a tanker that is already operating for the group, the company usually offhires the vessel for repairs to be undertaken before re-hiring it, once the problem has been fixed. He claimed that the age of the Total operated fleet is below that of the worldwide average for tankers. Technically, the company is going down the redundancy route when chartering. For example, in February of this year, Total agreed a five year timecharter for the 65,200 dwt products tanker Stena Perros, which is not due to be delivered until the beginning of 2008. This is the third of Concordia Maritime's revolutionary Stena P-Maxes to be chartered to Total. The first two, Stena Paris and Stena Provence, were delivered to Total in December 2005 and March 2006 respectively. The Max system was designed and developed by Concordia Maritime to load at the maximum capacity on a shallow draught. In addition to double hulls, the vessels are fitted with twin engine housed in two separate engine rooms, twin propellers, rudders and steering gear, plus separate control systems. The 'P' class vessels are also designated Ice class 1B to DNV class. Total also has a Class 1A vessel on its books. All the ice class tankers operated by Total are aframax or smaller. Total has also chartered in a 15,000 dwt products tanker built with twin skeg, twin engine and twin rudder systems as Gillet explained, "redundancy was a very important factor." He also preferred vessels with PTI-PTO systems for greater fuel efficiency. Varied tanker types Gillet's portfolio includes VLCCs, suezmax, aframaxes, panamaxes and coastal products and chemical tankers. The next delivery into the fleet will be a suezmax, he said. More than 95% of the tankers are fitted with double hulls with only 1% of single hull construction. The remainder are either built having double sides or double bottoms. "We are looking very carefully at the behaviour of double hull vessels", Gillet said responding to a question on the maintenance problems of the void spaces. "Gas detection equipment should be placed in all the ballast areas and the void spaces inspected periodically," he continued. As for LNG, Total has affiliate companies to look after this sector. In April, the group took delivery of the Arctic Lady from Mitsubishi on a timecharter basis. This vessel was built specifically for the giant Snohvit project, which is running late. Total is also involved in a development with Yemen Energy in which the French company will become the operator of four LNGCs of 160,000 cu m each. Two are building in South Korea and two in Japan. Gillet saw LNG operations as a key element for the future, so the company should have the capability to operate such ships, which is the biggest problem bearing in mind the shortage of expertise in this sector of the shipping industry, he said. TO The marine travel company specialises in crew and marine travel for the Shipping and Marine Industries. Please contact us or visit our website for more details of how we can help you www.themarinetravel.co.uk Tel: +44 1227 470720 Fax: +44 1227 470646 e-mail: info@themarinetravel.co.uk TankerOperator May/June 2006 page 24
p25.qxd 09/05/2006 11:03 Page 1 TECHNOLOGY TANK CLEANING TANKER Operator For Unitor read - Barwil Unitor Under the banner, ‘Barwil Unitor Ship Services’, the former ship supply and service provider Unitor and Barwil Agencies, both of Norway, have launched a series of new leaflets and publications, discovered Brian Warshaw. Graphically, out go the deep blue covers, representative of the bleak contaminated cargo tank; and in come white borders and colourful photographs, to portray a sparkling clean tank. New leaflets are not the only change. While Unitor's established products remain, new or improved products and services have been introduced to supplement these. Under its old name, Unitor previously held a marketing campaign for its tank cleaning products in 2003. On 20th January the Oslo Stock Exchange decided that, following the purchase by Wilh Wilhelmsen ASA (WW) of the outstanding shares in Unitor that they had not previously owned until 2nd January, the company could be de-listed. On that day, Unitor became a subsidiary of WW under the name of Barwil Unitor Ship Services. In effect, Barwil, also owned by WW, had joined forces with Unitor to form a maritime services network. The name Unitor will continue to exist on its products and services, but the corporate and administrative structure will change. The new organisation is focused on delivering improved vessel operating efficiency to the marine market. It is based on the local expertise of 3,700 people working out of 390 sites in 116 countries, linked to form a global capability network. In 2005, this network made 175,000 deliveries to 16,400 ships and handled 51,000 port calls. Although Barwil and Unitor are now one organisation, their customers will retain the same contacts and ordering routines as before. Barwil will provide port agency services and a wide range of shipping, and cargo related services, while the Unitor organisation will continue to produce and market chemicals for cleaning cargo tanks, cleaning materials application equipment, dispersants for oil spills, plus the many other strings to its bow, which have been the mainstay of the company down the years. In April, Unitor launched three new cleaning fluids, Unipol, Slip-Coat, and Aquatuff High Foam. Unipol is a pH neutral tank cleaner detergent that it claims is especially suitable for hydrocarbon freeing of tanks before loading sensitive cargoes. It can also be used as a general-purpose economical tank cleaner that is safe to use on all tank coating including zinc silicate. The introduction of Slip- Coat could be of benefit to both chemical and oil shippers. It is formulated to leave a thin film on the tank surface, preventing many cargoes from sticking to the coating. Water soluble, it is non-corrosive and environmentally safe, Unitor claimed. Aquatuff High Foam is a water-based heavy-duty alkaline cleaner that forms a foam that stays on vertical surfaces for an increased time. Barwil Unitor claimed its use was economical, and that it was a 'problem solver' for difficult tasks; but it was likely to be of more use with bulk cargo where soot, coal, and petcoke were a problem, rather than liquid cargoes. TankerOperator May/June 2006 page 25 Barwil Unitor listed 11 of its products appearing on the IMO's list of cleaning agents that have been evaluated and found to have met the current requirements of paragraph 1.8.2 and the Standards for Procedures and Arrangements for the Discharge of Noxious Liquid Substances. Alongside the new sales literature, Barwil Unitor updated its 'Unitor Tank Cleaning Manual' to a January 2006 edition. The manual is claimed to be an excellent introduction for newcomers to the tanker industry, and also provides indepth technical information about handling the specific products the company supplies. Those interested in receiving a copy should apply to the Barwil Unitor representative at a port of call. Eleven Unitor products appear on the IMO’s list of cleaning agents, including Aquatuff High Foam. Also of value to tanker personnel will be a small, two-page guide entitled, 'Cargo Hold Cleaning Guide', reference ID No. 808311, Revision No. 01. The Wilh Wilhelmsen Group is one of Norway's largest centres of maritime expertise. Half the workforce of over 13,000 people, sail on more than 200 ships. The rest of the staff work in over 250 offices throughout 60 countries, including a number of terminals. TO
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Navigation standards slammed - Tanker Operator

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