Ship managers’ association InterManager reported there had been 8 enclosed space deaths in seven days in December 2023, three seafarers and five shore workers. (It did not say what type of ships they were). He also said there were 31 known enclosed space deaths on ships in the 2023 calendar year, and 310 known enclosed space deaths on ships since 1996.
“We have
crew members and shore workers placed under unrealistic time pressures to conduct
high-risk tasks such as tank cleaning, and we have confusing instructions which
vary from ship to ship as to what procedures and protocols must be followed,”
said Captain Kuba Szymanski, secretary general of InterManager.
“This is
an industry-wide issue which everyone in the shipping community must work
together to resolve.”
“It’s not
enough to blame the seafarers and offer additional training. Accident investigations
must delve deeper into why people make the decisions they do and examine what
external pressures impact those decisions.
“Ship architects and builders must work harder to design out these hazardous spaces where possible.”
Guy
Johnson, owner of chemical tanker cleaning consultancy L&I Maritime,
believes that tank cleaning could be done much more efficiently and safely.
“The
mechanics of tank cleaning has not really changed in a long time,” he said. “We
are all cleaning to standards that are set by commercial interests who have no
real interest or understanding in how the cleaning is done, or whether or not
it impacts the environment and crew safety.” “I am still trying to get the
industry to eliminate the wall wash inspection, but my arguments, however
sound, fall on deaf ears, because cargo quality is far more important than CO2
emissions and multiple confined space entry.”
“I
recently set a poll on LinkedIn asking whether or not the chemical tanker
industry should push IMO to ban wall wash inspections on safety and
environmental grounds. Whilst I received a lot of positive comments, and thousands
of reads, only 81 people voted.
è
Combination
carriers
Torvald Klaveness of Oslo
operates 16 ‘combination carrier’ vessels. These can take both dry and wet
cargo, with comprehensive cleaning in between.
A typical
operation could be carrying sugar from a bioethanol plant in Brazil to India,
then taking diesel from India to Brazil on the return leg. Other Brazilian
products consumed in India are grain, soyabeans and caustic soda.
The tank
cleaning can take 2-3 days, involving robots and infrared measurements. A
combination carrier has much reduced carbon emissions in comparison to having
two vessels which carry cargo to a
destination and sail back empty. The carbon benefits are also in shipbuilding,
because one vessel replaces two. Combination carriers also reduce the
number of
crew required, because an empty vessel still needs crew.
The
average vessel spends only 30 per cent of its time laden, says Ernst Meyer, CEO
of Klaveness.
The
company has two types of combination carriers. Its “CLEANBU” vessels are both LR1
tankers and Kamsarmax dry bulk vessels, able to carry all dry bulk products,
caustic soda and petroleum products. Its “CABU” vessels service the aluminium
industry, carrying caustic soda solution and alumina, as well as other dry bulk
commodities.
Combination
carriers are not a new idea, but when they were introduced in the past, customers
did not care so much about the savings in emissions and crewing costs. “It is a
completely different world today,” he said. Mr Meyer estimates combination
carriers could be viable for 10 to 15 per cent of today’s bulk shipping needs.
