Carriage, Handling and Storage of Dangerous Goods along

ACTIONS
Technical and Management (continued)
• condition of life and firefighting equipment; and
• tank cleaning.
VESSELS 73
Cargo operation procedures and bunkering procedures should include the use of the safety checklist
prior to any operation.
Institutional and Capacity Building
Port regulations should include and implement the use of an approved safety checklist for tanker
barges and terminals for every cargo or bunkering operation.
Training should be conducted on the use of the safety checklist. This involves knowledge of the
hazards of dangerous goods and how to conduct cargo operations in a safe way. Practically, this
refers to filling in the safety checklist which should be verified only by an educated and experienced
crewmember who takes responsibility when signing for approval.
3.3.2.3 Precautions During Cargo Handling
Target group: Tanker barges
RECOMMENDATIONS
Member Countries should establish minimum safety requirements for cargo handling and
bunkering operations.
Challenge
Few vessels take adequate precautions prior to loading and discharging cargo. A number of
precautions must be observed by tanker and terminal/shore when handling cargo, ballasting,
bunkering, tank cleaning and gas freeing are being carried out in port. The risk of fire and explosion
should be eliminated at all cost. Most important are hazards associated with naked lights, smoking,
galleys, electrical equipment, external openings in accommodation and the engine room, pump room,
air conditioning and ventilation systems as well as openings in cargo tanks, inspections of cargo tanks,
tanker and shore cargo connections, product spillage and leakage and proximity to other vessels.
Spillage of product should be avoided at all costs to prevent pollution and fire and explosion due to
ignition. A report by ExxonMobil affiliate International Marine Transportation Ltd showed that deck
spills were the second most important cause of incidents onboard seagoing vessels between 2008 and
2010 and it might be assumed that the situation is similar for inland waterway barges (Safety Alert
Bulletin, ExxonMobil, International Marine Transportation Ltd: "Main Engine Control Failures").
According to International Tanker Owners Pollution Federation Ltd (ITOPF), most spills are the result
of a combination of actions and circumstances, all of which contribute in varying degrees to the
final outcome. The following analysis explores the incidence of spills of different sizes in terms of the
primary event or operation in progress at the time of the spill. These "causes" have been grouped into
"Operations" and "Accidents". Spills for which the relevant information is not available or where the
cause was not one of those given are listed under "Other/unknown".
It is apparent from the table that:
• most spills from tankers result from routine operations such as loading, discharging and
bunkering which normally occur at ports or terminals;
• the majority of these operational spills are small, with some 91 percent involving quantities
of less than 7 tonnes; and