The incident
A Tanker vessel was loading while moored at an oil Terminal. Close to the completion of loading operation, the manifold watchman heard a noise and noted that ‘Y’ piece for the manifold connection has got bent and that the chiksan loading arm was resting on the manifold drip tray. Immediately he alerted the Cargo control room and loading was stopped after informing the Terminal. There was no injury, loss of primary containment or Environmental pollution due to the incident.
What went wrong?
For loading operations, Terminal had presented a chiksan loading arm with 12” connection. The 12” shore loading arm was connected to ship’s manifold of No.8 Port & No.8 Stbd cargo tanks via 6” ‘Y’ piece and a reducer (12”x6”).
The loading arm was connected by terminal personnel with supervision of ship’s personnel. On completion of the manifold connection, it was noticed that the vertical support arm for the loading arm was not long enough to reach the ship’s deck. To mitigate this gap, it was supported at bottom using wooden pallets and work bench, which were provided by the ship staff.
As per Master’s report, the chiksan loading arm was counter-weight balanced on the shore side. Apparently the arm counter weight had malfunctioned leading the arm to drop by its own weight and resulting in bending of the manifold ‘Y’ piece. The support underneath the loading arm formed by the wooden pallet & work bench had slipped due to the weight of the loading arm.
What can be done to avoid recurrence?
During Ship-Shore safety checks, ship staff shall ensure that the ship and shore manifold connections and arms are in good condition, properly rigged and appropriate for the service intended. If ship staff observes any unexpected or undesirable circumstances at berth, same shall be brought to the attention of Terminal in-charge. Cargo operations shall not be commenced till the time a Risk Assessment has been carried out and the identified risk has been appropriately mitigated.
Key Learnings from Incident
Raise concern with Terminal for any unexpected or undesirable circumstances
Assess and mitigate risk appropriately prior commencing cargo transfer operations