Bulk Carrier Notes Witherby Seamanship International A Division of Witherby Publishing Group Ltd 4 Dunlop Square, Livingston, Edinburgh, EH54 8SB, Scotland, UK Tel No: +44(0)1506 463 227 - Fax No: +44(0)1506 468 999 Email: info@emailws.com - Web: www.witherbyseamanship.com iii Abdul Khalique Abdul Khalique began his sea career in 1992 at the Pakistan Marine Academy and was awarded the President of Pakistan Gold Medal for the best cadet in BSc Maritime Studies. In 1995, he completed his training, receiving the High Achievement Award and the Merchant Navy Association (Tasmania) prize at the Australian Maritime College. In 2002 he completed an MSc in Computer Based Information Systems from the University of Sunderland and then studied for the Post Graduate Certi?cate in Shipping at the New Zealand Maritime School in 2003. That year he moved to Shetland School of Nautical Studies as a course developer and in 2004 became a lecturer. While in this position, he attained the Institute of Chartered Ship Brokers membership through examination and a Post Graduate Certi?cate in Teaching Quali?cation for Further Education (TQFE) from the University of Dundee in 2006. In the same year, he was promoted to Senior Lecturer and Cadet Programme Leader for HND Nautical Science. In 2008 he moved to take up a Principal Lecturer’s job at Warsash Maritime Academy where he currently remains. v Contents 1 Bulk Carriers 1 1.1 Introduction 3 1.2 Bulk Carrier Design 4 1.2.1 Longitudinal Divisions 4 1.2.2 Cargo Holds and Hatches 6 1.2.3 Ballast Tanks 8 1.2.4 Fuel Tanks 10 1.2.5 Cargo Gear 10 1.2.6 Service Speeds and Fuel Consumption 11 1.3 Types of Bulk Carriers by Size 11 1.3.1 Classi?cation Society Notations for Bulk Carriers 13 1.4 Types of Bulk Carriers According to Trade 14 1.4.1 Ore Carriers 14 1.4.2 Oil/Bulk/Ore – OBO Ships 14 1.4.3 Self-Unloader Bulk Carriers 15 1.4.4 Open Hatch Bulk Carriers (OHBCs) 15 1.4.5 Forest Product Carriers 15 1.5 Hybrid Con?guration (HyCon) Bulk Carriers 16 1.6 Stresses in Bulk Carriers 17 1.6.1 Hull Stress Monitoring System (HSMS) in Bulk Carriers 20 1.7 Structural Problems Associated with Bulk Carriers 20 1.7.1 Corrosion 20 1.7.2 Metal Fatigue 20 1.7.3 Operational Factors 21 1.7.4 Precautions to Overcome Structural Problems 22 1.7.5 Strengthening of Bulk Carriers 23 1.8 Structural Standards for Bulk Carriers 23 2 Bulk Cargoes 25 2.1 Introduction 27 2.2 Terminology Used in Bulk Cargo Operations 27 2.3 Recommended Publications for Bulk Cargo Carriage 28 2.3.1 The IMSBC Code 28 2.3.2 The International Grain Code 29 2.3.3 The SLU Code 29 2.4 Intact Stability Criteria According to the International Load Line Convention 29 2.4.1 Intact Stability Criteria for Dry Cargo Ships 29 2.5 Hazards Associated with Bulk Cargoes 31 2.5.1 Structural Damage due to High Density Cargoes 31 2.5.2 Shifting of Cargo 32 2.5.3 Liquefaction of Cargo 32 2.5.4 Self-Heating and Spontaneous Combustion 33 2.5.5 Generation of Gases 33 2.5.6 Oxygen Depletion 33 2.5.7 Corrosion and Other Chemical Hazards 33 2.5.8 Compatibility between Different Cargoes 33 2.5.9 Health Hazards from Dust 34 2.6 Examples of Bulk Cargoes 34 2.6.1 Grain 34 2.6.2 Coal 37 2.6.3 Iron Ore 39 2.6.4 Timber 40 2.6.5 Steel 44 vi Bulk Carrier Notes Contents Contents 3 Bulk Trade 45 3.1 The Voyage 47 3.2 Voyage Orders/Instructions 48 3.3 Charter Parties for Bulk Trade 49 3.3.1 Time Charter 49 3.3.2 Voyage Charter 50 3.3.3 Contract of Affreightment (COA) 57 3.4 Load Line Zones and Calculations 57 3.4.1 Load Line Calculations 57 4 Cargo Loading 61 4.1 Hold Preparation 63 4.1.1 Disposal of Dry Bulk Cargo Residues 64 4.2 Silver Nitrate Test 64 4.2.1 Cargo Hold Coatings 65 4.2.2 Hatch Covers 65 4.2.3 Other Parts of the Hatch Covers 65 4.2.4 Other Openings to the Cargo Holds 65 4.2.5 Stowage Planning 66 4.2.6 Cargo Plans 67 4.3 Ship Shore Information Exchange 67 4.3.1 Information from Ship to Shore 67 4.3.2 Information from Shore to Ship 68 4.4 Cargo Samples when Loading 68 4.5 Loading Methods 68 4.5.1 Grabs 68 4.5.2 Conveyors 69 4.5.3 Stacker 69 4.5.4 Reclaimer 69 4.6 Fumigation 69 4.6.1 Fumigant 69 4.7 Cargo Documentation 70 4.7.1 Mate’s Receipt 70 4.7.2 Bill of Lading (B/L) 70 4.7.3 Document of Compliance for the Carriage of Solid Bulk Cargoes 71 4.7.4 Document of Authorisation for the Carriage of Grain in Bulk 72 4.7.5 Grain Loading Manual and other Stability Information 72 4.7.6 Plant Health Certi?cate 72 4.7.7 Certi?cate of Origin 72 4.7.8 TML and Moisture Content Certi?cate 72 4.7.9 Cargo Manifest 72 4.7.10 Dangerous Cargo Manifest (DCM) 73 4.7.11 Certi?cate of Hatch Sealing 73 4.7.12 Certi?cate of Quantity/Quality/Weight 73 4.7.13 Empty Hold Certi?cate 73 4.7.14 Cargo Trimming Certi?cate 73 4.7.15 Permit to Discharge Ballast Water 73 4.7.16 Cargo Hold Coating Compliance Certi?cate 73 4.7.17 Damage Report/Form 73 4.8 Loading Cargo During Rain 74 4.8.1 Other Hazards 74 5 Draught Survey 75 5.1 Objective of Draught Survey 77 5.2 Steps for Draught Survey 77 5.3 Reading Draughts 77 5.3.1 Reading Draughts in Swell Without an Instrument 78 5.3.2 Using Draught Measurement Equipment 79 5.3.3 Precautions for Taking Draught Readings 79 Contents vii Contents 5.4 Taking Density 79 5.4.1 Density of Water 79 5.4.2 Using a Hydrometer for Measurement of Density 80 5.4.3 Precautions when using a Hydrometer 80 5.4.4 Density of Cargo 80 5.5 Cargo Weight, Volume and Ullage Measurement 81 5.6 Bunker Quantity Estimation 81 5.7 Precautions During Draught Survey 81 5.8 Calculation for Draught Survey 82 5.8.1 De?nitions 82 5.8.2 Deductibles 82 5.8.3 List Correction 83 5.8.4 Draught Corrections 83 5.8.5 Hull De?ection Correction 83 5.8.6 Trim Corrections 84 5.8.7 Density Correction 84 5.8.8 Worked Example Draught Survey 88 5.9 Deadweight Surveys 88 6 Ballast Water Management 89 6.1 Ballast Water Exchange Methods 92 6.1.1 Exchange Methods 92 6.1.2 Ballast Treatment 92 6.1.3 Controlled Ballast 93 6.2 Ballast Water Exchange Requirements 93 6.3 Ballast Water Management System 95 6.3.1 BWM Certi?cate and Inspections 95 6.3.2 Ballast Water Record Book 95 7 The Voyage 97 7.1 Conditions of Carriage 99 7.1.1 Incoterms - International Commercial Terms 99 7.1.2 Hague and Hague-Visby Rules 99 7.2 Ventilation 99 7.3 Discharging Hold Bilges 100 7.4 Periodic Checks 101 7.4.1 Departure from the Loading Port 101 7.4.2 Cargo Care on Passage 101 7.4.3 Physical Inspection of Vessel 102 7.4.4 Arrival at the Discharge Port 102 7.5 Logs and Record Keeping 102 7.6 BLU Manual 103 7.7 Bulk Carrier Loading Manual 103 8 Cargo Discharging 105 8.1 Discharging Plan 107 8.2 Arrival at the Discharge Port 107 8.3 Notice of Readiness 108 8.4 Cargo Samples when Discharging 108 8.5 Cargo Calculation - Draught Survey 108 8.6 Discharging Methods 108 8.6.1 Grabs 108 8.6.2 Vacuators 108 8.7 Cargo Damage Surveys 108 8.8 Hold Damage Surveys 109 Appendices 111 Acronyms and Abbreviations 183 Case Studies 188 92 Bulk Carrier Notes 6.1.2 Ballast Treatment a. Mechanical Treatment RWO (Compact CleanBallast) System Although many marine organisms can be ?ltered out of ballast water by specialised ?ltration plants, due to the large quantities of ballast water required the process is either very slow or requires a large capacity ?ltration plant. Additionally, some micro-organisms may still escape through the ?lters. b. Chemical Treatment EcochlorTM Ballast Water Treatment System Chemicals known as biocides, either oxidising agents (eg chlorine, ozone gas) or non-oxidising agents (eg pesticides), are used to kill marine organisms. While this is effective in treating ballast water, the chemicals should be handled carefully to avoid personal injury. Moreover, a negative impact on a ship’s ballast system, including tank coatings, has been noted in many cases. The usage instructions provided with the chemical should always be adhered to as ozone gas, for example, can cause severe respiratory damage. 6.1 Ballast Water Exchange Methods Any method used to exchange ballast water should prevent the transfer of marine life. A ship at sea is already subjected to varying stresses. However, depending on the method of ballast water exchange, the stresses could exceed the ship’s strength limits, causing permanent damage. It is therefore extremely important to understand the various methods available for exchange of ballast water to see the differences and comprehend the associated issues. 6.1.1 Exchange Methods a. Sequential or Empty/Re?ll Exchange This involves exchanging ballast water in ship’s tanks with seawater by emptying and re?lling them in sequence or individually with water from open oceans. The research based assumption made for the viability of this method is that the organisms in seawater loaded in coastal areas do not survive in open sea due to differences in the environmental conditions. While this method ensures a ‘nearly’ complete exchange of ballast water in ship’s tanks, it may not remove sediments. It does increase the workload on the ship’s ballast system, and on the ship’s of?cers who have to carefully plan the entire exchange operation while keeping in mind the following factors: • Whether the objective of removing marine organisms is fully achieved • an assessment on the sediments that may still remain within ballast tanks and whether they contain any marine organisms • the effect of emptying tanks will have on the stability of the vessel • the effect of emptying tanks will have on the strength of the vessel, particularly the change in stresses on critical areas of the ship’s structure • the amount of time that may be required to complete the operation in relation to other tasks such as hold cleaning and maintenance work. b. Pump-Through Exchange (over?ow method) In this method the ballast water in ship’s tanks is diluted by adding more water during the voyage at a number of positions. Since the tanks are not emptied, changes in stability or stress of the vessel are not an issue. However, to obtain a complete exchange of the ballast water, the equivalent of at least three times the amount in each tank has to be pumped. Ballast WaterManagement 93 Ballast WaterManagement sea. This increases a vessel’s port stay, but is safe provided the ships are able to connect to the terminals. Return to Origin The ballast water is transported back to the port of origin. While this method is not achievable by bulk carriers, it is used by some cruise ships. If a ship with no cargo is not allowed to deballast alongside while in port, it implies that the ship would need to deballast before arrival. This would create a non-compliant maneouvrability condition, because the bow, rudder and propeller would be too far out of the water to properly control the vessel. Similarly, if the ship was in such a condition at anchor and the weather deteriorates, there is a far grater chance of the anchor dragging. It could also affect the air draught requirements for going alongside and the ability to load. A bulk carrier would not be able to manoeuvre into a port or be at anchor with no ballast or cargo loaded as it would be in an unseaworthy condition. 6.2 Ballast Water Exchange Requirements There are two standards in the BWM Convention for exchange of ballast water: Ballast Water Exchange Standard Ballast water exchange must have an ef?ciency of 95% volumetric exchange. By the pumping-through method, a volume of water equivalent to three times that of each ballast tank is considered suf?cient. Ballast Water Performance Standard Ships are required to discharge: • Less than 10 viable organisms (dimension greater than or equal to 50 micrometres) per cubic metre of ballast water • less than 10 viable organisms (dimension 10-50 micrometres) per millilitre of ballast water • less than the maximum speci?ed concentrations for microbes as given below: a. Toxicogenic Vibrio Cholerae with less than 1 colony forming unit (cfu) per 100 millilitres or less than 1 cfu per 1 gram (wet weight) zooplankton samples. b. Escherichia coli less than 250 cfu per 100 millilitres. c. Intestinal Enterococci less than 100 cfu per 100 millilitres. c. Physical Treatment AquaTriCombTM Ballast Water Treatment System The physical treatment of ballast water may be by ultraviolet, ultrasound or thermal energy (maintaining ballast water temperature between 35–45o) to destroy marine life within ballast water. The main limitation of this method is that ships need to be ?tted with additional equipment and pipelines. It means an increase in initial costs as well as the running cost (equipment maintenance and crew training). Additionally, research has shown that some microorganisms may be resistant to this type of treatment, in which case it becomes ineffective. The treated ballast water should be carefully monitored, and samples taken. 6.1.3 Controlled Ballast Loading Clean Ballast From Terminal In some ports, ships may be able to load clean ballast water from storage tanks or rivers/lakes. This may be recycled or ‘treated’ ballast water, although its use is still at the research stage due to the costs involved. However, an option is to license certain companies to provide clean ballast to ships and these companies then certify that the ship has been loaded with clean ballast. Despite its bene?ts, this system does have some disadvantages, eg: • Equipping the ports and terminals with appropriate facilities to treat and hold suf?cient quantities of ballast water • equipping ships with suitable systems to receive ballast • cost of ballasting operations to the ship from possible increases in port stays in addition to extra port dues, etc. Discharging into Port Reception Facilities To avoid contamination of harbours, many ports now restrict ships from discharging ballast directly into the 94 Bulk Carrier Notes • in all cases, dispose of ballast water sediments as stated in an approved ballast water management plan • comply with additional national requirements to control the transfer of organisms through ballast water exchange. For effective exchange of ballast by the ?owthrough method, the exchange should be at least 300% calculated by the formula: Percentage of Exchange = Total Volume Added by Empty/Refill or by Flow Through 10×00 Capacity of Ballast Compartment Ships are allowed to comply with standards other than the ballast water performance or exchange requirements provided that they meet the same level of environmental protection set by the IMO. Therefore, ballast exchange should: • Be done at least 200 nautical miles from the nearest land in water of at least 200 m depth • where the above condition cannot be met at all, then at least 50 nautical miles from the nearest land in water of at least 200 m depth • if both above conditions cannot be met, then exchange must take place in areas designated for ballast exchange by the concerned States ShipsBallast Capacity (m3)Compliance yearCompliance with Constructed before 2009 Less than 1,500 or more than 5,000 2016Ballast Water Exchange Standard; or Ballast Water Performance Standard 2016 onwardsBallast Water Performance Standard Between 1,500–5,0002014Ballast Water Exchange Standard; or Ballast Water Performance Standard 2014 onwardsBallast Water Performance Standard Constructed in 2009 or laterAllBallast Water Performance Standard Table 6.3 – Ballast Water Management Compliance Requirements LocationAll Ports – USAAll Ports – New Zealand and Australia Vancouver, CanadaOrkney, UK MethodLoad ballast outside US EEZ, within designated area of the EEZ or shipboard treatment of ballast water Ballast exchange, shore based treatment, shipboard treatment of ballast water, use fresh water as ballast or discharge ballast water in designated area Exchange of ballastPort reception facility for oil tankers to discharge to ballast water treatment plant Ship TypeAll ships carrying ballast loaded outside USA EEZ except passenger ships ?tted with ballast water treatment plants or ships engaged solely in US coastal trade All ships which have loaded ballast in territorial waters of another country All ships arriving in port with ballast except those which discharge less than 1,000 t of ballast water or if they need to discharge ballast to avoid any structural damage Oil tankers CommentsMasters are required to use approved USA format for recording ballast operations The Master is to produce records of ballast exchange to the port authority. If appropriate records cannot be shown then test samples will be taken, and the ship will be asked to retain ballast. Gas tankers may discharge into terminal provided Master gives written evidence of position where ballast was loaded. In this case, samples of water may be obtained from the ship. Table 6.4 – Examples of Ballast Water Requirements by Various Countries Ballast WaterManagement