# 'Tankship Tromedy Book



## alastairrussell (Jun 19, 2007)

We must all read Jack Devanney's book on Impending Disasters in Tankers. It can be read on his CTX website so please google.

I quote from the book:


*Preface
*
_
Tanker design, construction and operation has been controlled by an unusual form of self-regulation called the Classification Society, combined with sporadic, emotional intervention by outsiders in the aftermath of a big oil spill. The Classification Societies — and their partners, the Flag States compete for and are financially dependent on the entities that they are supposed to regulate: the shipyards that build the tankers and the shipowners that operate them. This incestuous relationship has produced a steady deterioration in tankship standards since World War II. The well-meaning but technically ignorant outside intervention has not only not been directed at the core problems facing tankers; but in several critical areas has exacerbated those problems. The result is a mess.

The tanker being built today is flimsy, highly unreliable, unmaneuverable, and nearly impossible to maintain. And the situation is becoming progressively worse. As a result, we will have gargantuan spills in the future that need not have happened. This book outlines the sad history of tanker regulation and calls for fundamental changes in both tanker design and the regulatory system. The main body of the book assumes no prior knowledge of tankers. All the technical detail has been banished to appendices.

With respect to the ship itself, I argue that we must:Tanker design, construction and operation has been controlled by an unusual form of self-regulation called the Classification Society, combined with sporadic, emotional intervention by outsiders in the aftermath of a big oil spill. The Classification Societies — and their partners, the Flag States — compete for and are financially dependent on the entities that 

• Substantially upgrade our hull structural standards, and adopt a farmore conservative machinery design philosophy. The ships need at least 15% more steel. Otherwise we are guaranteed massive structural failure spills.

• Put a blanket of inert gas in all double hull ballast spaces. The book do***ents that cargo leaking into ballast tanks is the single most important cause of both tanker spillage and tankerman deaths. The book describes how two classes of double hull tankers built in Korea in 2001-2003 had their ballast tanks successfully inerted. The book
demonstrates that ballast tank inerting is critical to tanker safety not only by preventing an explosion should a leak occur, but even more importantly by preventing the leak in the first place by drastically reducing corrosion in way of coating breakdown. Some of this material is being made public for the first time.

• Mandate twin screw in the form of two fully independent engine rooms. Under the current system, 99.5% of all tankers, however large, are single screw. These ships are always a single failure away from being helplessly adrift. The book presents evidence, never before public, that there are at least ten total loss of power incidents on tankers every day. Twin screw, properly implemented, would reduce this failure rate bymore than a factor of one thousand. Twin screw would also drastically improve tanker low speed maneuverability which is implicated in a number of big spills including the Aegean Sea shown on the cover. The combined cost of these refoms will be about the same as the cost of imposing double hulls.

With respect to the tanker regulatory system,

• We must require that ship builders take responsibility for the tankers they build both in the form of a meaningful guarantee and liability for imprudent design and construction. Under the current system, the ship building warranty is a joke — you will get a better guarantee with a toaster — and the shipyards are explicitly absolved from any real liability for their products.

• We must break through the layers of secrecy fostered by the Classification Society system which prevents us from learning from our mistakes.

• We must replace the current, shipowner controlled, Flag State/Classification Society system. It is not regulation; it’s an auction. The book argues for an expanded form of port state control in which the port state inspectors go into the tanks. And these inspectors must be guided by a philosophy which is entirely different from current Classification Society surveys.

The Center for Tankship eXcellence (CTX) is an organization devoted to achieving these reforms. It is my hope that those who feel as I do will contact the CTX and offer to help. The website is www.c4tx.org and the email address is [email protected]. In particular, I appeal to tankermen — all of whom already know that the argument outlined above is essentially correct — to come forward with facts and anecdotes supporting the cause.

We have made the mess. We must clean it up.

_
Regards

Alastair


Ps I am having trouble with my computer at the moment with copying and pasting and if anything does not make sense go into the Jack's website and have a read of his book.


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## NoR (Mar 24, 2008)

'Tankship Tromedy' entertaining as well as informative worth reading. Free electronic version *here.*


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## alastairrussell (Jun 19, 2007)

Nor

Thanks for your help in directing everyone to have a good read. The book can be bought for $30 US on the internet. You have to pay for postage on top of that price.

Regards

Alastair


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## NoR (Mar 24, 2008)

alastairrussell said:


> Nor
> 
> Thanks for your help in directing everyone to have a good read. The book can be bought for $30 US on the internet. You have to pay for postage on top of that price.
> 
> ...


Yes, I bought the hard copy some time ago, easier to read unless you do a massive print out. Electronic versions particularly in .pdf are great for searches, bookmarking and quick reference.

Devanney makes some good points about classification societies.


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## oldseamerchant (Sep 8, 2012)

Essential reading for all those interested in tankers.


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## alastairrussell (Jun 19, 2007)

NoR and oldseamerchant

Thanks, Jack Devanney got involved in my thread on 'bulkcarriers that have suffered from structural failure' in this forum. We need more people like him and also Captain Woinin ( Lemschout in this forum).

Regards

Alastair


PS I never sailed on Tankers


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## callpor (Jan 31, 2007)

An excellent book which is essential for all those interested in Tankers. It was discussed earlier in this thread with contributions from Jack regarding Double Hull tankers at http://www.shipsnostalgia.com/showthread.php?t=12597&highlight=tankship+tromedy


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## DanSevern (Nov 17, 2010)

I had the pleasure of meeting Jack and working for his brother David on his fleet of pre-marpol ULCC's and VLCC's in what I consider to be the most professional and best maintained tanker fleet in the world.... Tankship Transport, a company which will always be sadly missed


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## callpor (Jan 31, 2007)

DanSevern said:


> I had the pleasure of meeting Jack and working for his brother David on his fleet of pre-marpol ULCC's and VLCC's in what I consider to be the most professional and best maintained tanker fleet in the world.... Tankship Transport, a company which will always be sadly missed


Will always remember a brief visit I made to the Tankship Transport office at Hope Town on the Outer Keys of Abaco Is in the Bahamas, to meet David Devanney . What an incredible set up and location, just take a look at Google Maps and you'll see what I mean! Jack, who I knew from his work at Hellespont, turned up for the meeting. My colleague and I spent all of 4 hours there and came away impressed with the Tankship operation (Could write a book about the journey there and back to UK?). It's no wonder people were queuing up to work for them. Dan you were lucky to have the priviledge to do so.


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