SHIP EXPLORER

FROM EDITOR'S DESK

Hello World !!!

Greetings of the season to all of you.

I recently got lucky to learn about publishing the hubs online. I always had a thought in my mind, that I have to share my knowledge with the world, but I always wondered how ???

Now that I got the answer to my long awaited question , I cannot wait anymore to write my mind on the internet , on the Hubpages. I have just started to do so with my first hub with the details on the Ship's layout and working. I hope this hub will entertain all those seeking good knowledge about ship and shipping business and all the hubbers as well.

I sincerely thank to the Hubpages team to have created such a wonderful platform where everybody can enjoy writing their minds , without any worries , without any bias.

LOVE YOU ALL !!

SHIPPY

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IMPORTANT TANKER PUBLICATIONS

DEAR READERS

The above shown photos had been captured when I was serving on an Oil Tanker ( VLCC ) ship.

These photos have helped me enormously during my study tenure and service life as well. The thought behind putting all these photos on large scale view here, is to ensure the reader's convenience in reading and understanding the ship structure , cargo equipments and essentials etc. and at the same time clearly visualize and recognize them so that there is no room left for any confusion / misunderstanding. While doing my studies I practically realized that these well addressed topics are not so easily and readily available to the marine students and the new entrants to the industry or to the existing seafarers or outsiders who are interested in learning these things. Hence here I take the opportunity to put focus on these thing with the help of the above visuals & images. I hope all will be surely benefited from this hub. If so, please do leave your comments / suggestions below , to help me achieve the goal of producing this hub.

CARGO TANK DOME / HATCH COVER

This is called the Cargo Tank Dome , more pronounced as hatch cover . It is the dome shaped opening in to the cargo tank from the upper deck. It has got a cover on top which can be slide opened/ closed and locked watertight by means of the attached locking arrangement. When all the cargo from the tank has been discharged, the tanks are washed, stripped & purged by inert gas and when the hydrocarbon gas contents fall below the 1%of LEL ( Lower Explosive Limit) , the cargo tanks are then gasfreed and prepared for man entry. Man entry is done in the cargo tank through these tank domes. There is a ladder welded to facilitate the man entry in to the tank. However the safety checklists and atmosphere checks must be carefully carried out and results to be properly logged before making man entry in the cargo tanks.

CARGO HOSE HANDLING GEAR

This is a simple derrick which is utilized for the cargo hose handling purposes.However many modern tankers have hose handling cranes instead of the derricks. Sometimes the vessels are fitted with two hose handling gears i.e. one for the each side manifold and sometimes there is only one crane fitted for hose handling purposes depending upon the ship's sizes, prevailing rules and owners requirements etc. These gears have well specified and so constructed as to provide sufficient outreach towards ship's side to facilitate easy lifting & lowering of the hoses, reducers etc. These gears are designed for sufficient SWL ( Safe Working Loads ). The user and technical manuals are provided for all these equipments for users reference.

SOPEP EQUIPMENTS FOR OIL POLLUTION PREVENTION

SOPEP EQUIPMENTS ONBOARD SHIP

These are the SOPEP ( Shipboard Oil Pollution Emergency Plan ) equipments , kept onboard every ship. There is a requirement for keeping all these equipments onboard ships in a particularly designated space called "SOPEP LOCKER" in the sufficient quantities along with the extra spares. All these equipments must be used to the fullest possible to minimize the size of the of oil pollution and their after effects. As per the prevailing OPA ( Oil Pollution Act) and MARPOL (Marine Pollution ) regulations and the requirements of the administrations ( Classification Societies ) there must be a ship specific SOPEP MANUAL prepared for dealing with the emergency situations arising out of the oil spill accidents.

These SOPEP MANUALS will clearly indicate the national and international contact center details , their contact numbers, name of responsible persons and means of communication etc. for any emergency arising out of the oil spill accidents.

The SOPEP LOCKER must consist of below mentioned equipments in sufficient quantities:

1. Empty barrels

2. Wilden Pumps

3. Sawdust

4. Plastic or non - spark material shovels

5. Brooms

6. Rubber buckets

7. Absorbent pads

8. Oil booms

9. Plastic or rubberized material protective clothing, hand gloves and rubber boots etc

10. Oil spill dispersants (OSD) - (Not to be used unless proper permission is obtained from the concerned authorities. )

However always careful operation should be carried out and all possible means should be used and attempts should be made to avoid any oil spill or pollution at any cost.

COW ( CRUDE OIL WASHING ) EQUIPMENTS

CRUDE OIL WASHING ON OIL TANKERS

COW (CRUDE OIL WASHING ) is a process of cleaning the cargo tanks on the crude oil tanker ships. COW is a critical procedure on the oil tanker ships which must be carried out by the properly trained personnel because it involves very high risk, any mistake in the operation might result in very serious accidents / explosions or mishaps. Crude oil washing is carried out while discharging the crude oil from the ship's concerned tanks which are to be crude oil washed. In order to carry out Crude Oil Washing , the COW plan must be prepare and all the officers and crew participating in the COW process must be briefed for the COW plan the sequence of the washing, the method / procedure of washing i.e. Top Wash / Middle Wash / Bottom Wash etc. When the crude oil operation is being carried out , a continuous watch must be maintained from the Cargo Control Room by a responsible officer and sufficient number of deck hands must be put up on deck to monitor the crude oil washing. During the Crude oil washing process continuous watch must be maintained on the pressure , temperature , of the cargo tank , pressure of the COW line, quality of the Inert Gas being supplied to the cargo tank continuously , If any problem occurs with the I.G. system or the system fails to supply the required volume & pressure of the Inert Gas , the discharge / COW process must be stopped immediately until the I.G. supply system is revived.

COW machines are of jet nozzle type , in the form of single nozzle or double nozzle / programmable or non-programmable type. These machines are fitted on the ship , based on the ship owners, administrations and concerned rules & regulations requirements.

TRY YOUR HANDS IN WRITING YOUR MIND IN FORM OF A HUB. USE THIS OPPORTUNITY. REACH TO THE WORLD.

Comments

Mr. Ha on December 14, 2013:

Thank so much for the document and also think it is helpful.

ananda on February 22, 2013:

very helpful. Detail of SOPEP equipment such as quantities in VLCC would have been more helpful

ananda on February 22, 2013:

very helpful. Detail of SOPEP equipment such as quantities in VLCC would have been more helpful

SHIPPY (author) from INDIA on April 09, 2012:

Hi,

Thank you for your kind support & guidance.

Please provide me few more reliable & golden tips to improve my hubs.

Thx.

SHIPPY (author) from INDIA on April 09, 2012:

Dear PegCole,

Thank you for giving your valuable time to go through my hub and giving me your appraisal.

Deborah Neyens from Iowa on April 06, 2012:

Welcome to Hubpages, Shippy! Good job on your first hub; you put a lot of detail into it and the photos are great. Best of luck to you on your writing here.

Peg Cole from North Dallas, Texas on April 06, 2012:

Fantastic photos Shippy! Welcome to HubPages and congratulations on publishing your first hub. I hope you'll be writing many more educational and interesting articles. Much success to you here! Keep writing. Peg