propulsion, steam powered pumps were an added advantage. To control the flow of liquid when the vessel was rolling in a seaway, and to avoid large areas of free surface, the tanks were provided with trunk-ways, which considerably reduced the area at the top of the tank. Vessels, however, were often far short of their marks when loading light products, later types began to incorporate the "summer tank" which was housed on the trunk deck and was generally filled by means of a drop valve from the main tank below C im ' “1/4 Early design of bulk oil earrier Towards the middle of the 1920's, the twin bulkhead ship made its appearance, and slowly but surely the advantages of the new design made itself felt, and the centre line bulkhead type began to be replaced in all but a few special types and coasters, where size made the twin bulkheads impracticable. Welding was used in ship construction for a considerable period before World War TI, However, where hull construction was concemed, welding was always viewed with grave suspicion, but like all new methods, material and techniques improved, and during World War Il whole ships were constructed on this basis. The advantage of the welded hull is fairly obvious. All the plates are welded in a straight line, and there are no plate landings to restrict the flow of water along the hull as the vessel is propelled through the water. In addition to this, rivets have a tendeney to work, leaks from this source are quite frequent both in the hull and in the bulkheads separating the cargo tanks. Welding has more or less eliminated leakageof this nature. 1-2 tanker from 2° world war In the last ten to fifteen years, a great deal has been learnt about the use of metal in all types of construction, Research into metal fatigue and wastage as well as the use of coatings to prevent this, has helped considerably to simplify some of the problems encountered when carrying highly corrosive hydrocarbon liquids. Large-scale models in ship model basins have assisted the ship designer to examine stress problems and to simplify the design and layout of large tankers, thus reducing the cost of construction. A iypieal oil tanker, 1950 Apart from the layout of the cargo compartments and pumping systems, there have been significam changes in other directions, e.g. power operated valves and remote control are ‘becoming increasingly common. Properly used and maintained, such improvements show an economic return by redueing manpower requirements and climinating human error from a complex operation where expensive equipment can be scriously damaged. It would not be wise to neglect other areas where changes are taking place. Nearly all the new ships have no amidship house. The bridge and living accommodation are located aft. Safety and economics have been the main reason for this change and the arguments of Masters and Pilots who have opposed it on navigational and ship handling grounds can find Tittle supvort todayVessel Size Groups (in deadweight tons) Major ship size groups include: Handy and Handymax: Traditionally the workhorses of the dry bulk market, the Handy and more recent Handymax types remain popular ships with less than 60,000 dwt. The Handymax sector operates in a large number of geographically dispersed global trades, mainly carrying grains and minor bulks including steel products, forest products and fertilizers. The vessels are well suited for small ports with length and Graft restrictions and also lacking transshipment infrastructure. This eategory is also used to define small-sized oil tankers. Panamax: Represents the largest acceptable size to transit the Panama Canal, which can be applied to both freighters and tankers; lengths are restricted to a maximum of 275 meters, and widths to slightly more than 32 meter. The average size of such a ship is about 65,000 dwt. They mainly carry coal, grain and, to a lesser extent, minor bulks, including steel products, forest products and fertilizers. Aframax: A tanker of standard size between 75,000 and 115,000 dwt. The largest tanker size in the AFRA (Average Freight Rate Assessment) tanker rate system, ‘Suezmax: This standard, which represents the limitations of the Suez Canal, has evolved. Before 1967, the Suez Canal could only accommodate tanker ships with a ‘maximum of 80,000 dwt. The canal was closed between 1967 and 1975 because of the Israel - Arab conflict. Once it reopened in 1975, the Suezmax capacity went to 150,000 dwt. The Suez Canal can now accommodate all mammoth tankers in service on their ballast trips.+ VLCC: Very Large Crude Carriers, 150,000 to 320,00 dwt in size, They offer a good flexibility for using terminals since many can accommodate their draft. They are used in ports that have depth limitations, mainly around the Mediterranean, West Africa and the North Sea. They can be ballasted through the Suez Canal. + ULCC: Ultra Large Crude Carriers, 300,000 to $50,000 dwt in size. Used for carrying cemide oil on long haul routes from the Persian Gulf to Furope, America and East Asia, via the Cape of Good Hope or the Strait of Malacca. The enormous size of these vessels require custom built terminals. While VLCC and ULCC were, and always are, likely to be exclusively engaged in the carrying of crude oil handy size and medium size vessels tend to cover a very large range of cuties. ‘The larger vessels over 100,000 dwt. tend to be crude carriers. They trade between ports that are restricted by draft or other limitations so that VLCC or ULCC cannot be used, ao f | Vessels of less than 100,000 dwt. are mainly divided into two classes - (a) Dirty product carriers. (b) Clean product carriers. The larger dirty product carriers are frequently switched between the crude trades and carrying refined dirty products. Aller carrying crude, the eargo tanks have to undergo cleaning to remove wax and crude residue, which might affect the flashpoint of dirty produets like fuel oil Some large dirty product carriers have their tanks coated to reduce corrosion from crude and water washing and facilitate changing from one to the other. Clean product carriers in the medium size range tend to be less than 50,000 dwt. Many are purpose built with coated tanks and have sophisticated pumping systems capable of handling 12 or more grades. ‘A iypieal emade ol tanker, 1975 A ypical erude oil tanker, 2000‘The largest dirty and clean product tankers have evolved from changing trade practices and requirements and though some of these vessels may be involved in short haul coastal distribution of refined products many are now involved in longer haul work. General purpose tankers probably cover the largest range and variety of different cargoes carried. This size range includes some chemical carriers as well as a host of purpose built clean and dirty product earriers engaged in short haul and coastal distribution Tankers smaller than 16,500 are generally clean or dirty product short haul coastal vessels, but some are built to handle special products like bitumen, chemicals, acids as well as lubricating oil The big building programmes of the 1960's and early'70s were the result of high freight rates. The large numbers of ULCC and VLCC, which came into service, received a lot of publicity and to some extent hid the fact that the number of smaller ships produced was also significant, The biggest tanker produced in the building boom was the Seawise Giant (now “Knock Nevis"). She was originally built as the Oppama before being enlarged in Japan. She had the highest recorded deadweight of 564,739 tons. vars Viking Lu 2 ‘Types of oil carriers Oil tanker means a ship constructed or adapted primarily to carry oil in bulk in its cargo spaces and includes combination carriers and any “chemical tanker” as defined Annex I of MARPOL 73/78 when it is carrying a cargo or part cargo in bulk (Crude oil tanker means an oil tanker engaged in the trade of carrying crude oil“Typical crude oil tanker Product carrier means an oil tanker engaged in the trade of carrying oil other than crude oil Typical product earrier Combination carrier means a ship designed to carry either oil or solid cargoes in bulk.‘Typical combination carrier 1.3 Combination carriers OiVOre (0/0) This is an oil tanker, which is equipped to carry ore in its centre cargo compartments. Compared with a similar-sized conventional tanker, the main differences revolve around the centre compartments, which are located over double bottom tanks, and have large, heavy steel hatch covers. The centre compartments are normally arranged so that the longitudinal plating slopes inwards, providing a sclf-stowing factor when loading ore. ‘The centre compartments are generally free from all structural members, which would hinder loading or discharging ore. Ifcoils are required for heating the oil these are installed in the wings or the holds and welded on racks to the plating near the bottom or the tank top. The centre compartments contain no piping, and are loaded and pumped out by utilising wells let into the double bottoms and connected to the cargo piping system through the wing tanks. ‘The wing tanks are arranged in the same manner as a conventional tanker and carry oil and ballast as required. Coils and cargo piping are similar to those found in conventional tankers ‘These ships are designed to carry their full deadweight when trading as tankers and also when carrying heavy ore concentrates. They are not usually designed to carry light bulk cargoes. Heavy ore concentrates are carried only in the centre holds. Oil cargo may be carried in both centre holds and eargo wing tan! Holds are constructed so as to extend approximately one half of the total breadth of the ship. Conventional wing tanks incorporate the main strengthening sections, allowing smooth sides in the centre holds. Holds are always constructed with double bottom spaces beneath them. Hatches are generally single piece side rolling with a sealing arrangement similar to that on OBO ships. Cargo pipelines are usually installed in the wing tanks, whilst ballast pipelines are typically installed in the double bottom tanks. Where cargo pipelines pass through permanent ballast tanks, the possibility of pollution caused by pipeline failure should be borne in mind.' HATCH ae ‘BOX. \\ Gino! ORE! On, i wAtcu ORE! om (CROSS SECTION, Ore/Oil Carrier (0/0)