What are the preparations done while loading and unloading dangerous goods of tanker vessels?

Answer 1

Loading:

Before a tanker comes into a dock for loading, the crew must follow specific regulations governed by international regs and, of course USCG regs, etc. Here are some of the myriad of steps that must be followed.

1. Test overfill alarms for tanks, Test IG high press, low press alarms, make sure firefighting equip. is ready on deck.
Also, usually officers will be briefed on what steps will be taken to load tanks (i.e. start loading in 2 tanks first, etc.)

2. Dock the ship
3. Connect chicksan/loading arms to ship's cargo manifold along with vapor recovery line-this used for cargo vapors to exit ship since IG system won't be used to control the pressure.
4. Make sure IG system is isolated as this will not be used-if not isolated properly there is a potential for cargo vapors to go back into engine compartment area.

5. Once ship starts loading, at some point in time-depending on what the tide is doing and what the draft of the ship is-you will want to start the ballast pump and start discharging ballast-this would be segregated ballast, NOT the non-segregated ballast/dirty ballast (also, dirty ballast would have to be discharged before you start loading cargo...haha!-forgot to mention that.).

6. Basically, you just stand there on watch calculating your rates periodically (usually every hour to figure what time your going to finish). Also, the capt. and chief mate will want to know when the ship will finish loading to get an idea of when to call the tugs, pilots, etc.-this of course all depends on how long it will take for the tugs, pilots to get to the ship. There are a lot of things that need to happen. Time mgmt. skills are vital. You need to always be ahead of the game-so, your 'thinking out-of-the-box' mentality is critical.

7. Once shipped is almost finished with loading, usually the chief mate will be there with you to help top off tanks. There is know way you can do this all on your own-mentally, this can be a very intense period of time as things happen quickly-you don't want overfill any tanks.

Answer 2

Clear unnecessary personel from the area, make sure that you have a pollution control boom around the ship, and appropriate hazmat contol and cleanup material and peronel standing by, in case of a spill, and generaly speaking ban all smoking from the area as well.