# Tank Cleaning



## d.r.wing

Anyone know when the canvas wind sails were introduced to vent tanks, and how do they do it nowadays?


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## OLD STRAWBERRY

I can't answer Your question about the canvas vents but nowadays they use air driven extractor fans to vent the tanks.
Tony.


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## Steve Woodward

Heres another way : JETFAN125


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## d.r.wing

Water/Air driven fans! pretty obvious really I wonder why they took so long to be developed. We also used to wash the tanks down with hoses shows how long I've been away from the action.


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## afuel

In late 60's we were using Butterworth steam driven/steam heated sea water.

Butterworths were mounted on round deck mounts (cover unbolted and removed) and then the 2 large nozzles (Butterworth machine) spinning at 150 rpm or so would be lowered every few minutes or so to wash sides of tanks down.

The deck gang would go down into tanks, after the waste overboard and muck out the heavy stuff with buckets and rope. Until tanks were clean and gas free.

Hard, hot, dirty work.


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## Frank P

afuel said:


> In late 60's we were using Butterworth steam driven/steam heated sea water.
> 
> Butterworths were mounted on round deck mounts (cover unbolted and removed) and then the 2 large nozzles (Butterworth machine) spinning at 150 rpm or so would be lowered every few minutes or so to wash sides of tanks down.
> 
> The deck gang would go down into tanks, after the waste overboard and muck out the heavy stuff with buckets and rope. Until tanks were clean and gas free.
> 
> Hard, hot, dirty work.


afuel, 

You are right about the hot and hard dirty work but it meant that there was plenty of overtime to be had.

Cheers Frank(Thumb)


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## JimC

Sure do remember the Butterworth system, the brass buckets and shovels etc. Also remember using canvas venting systems which consisted of a four sided canvas 'sail' suspended over the tank lid feeding down into a long canvas tube extending to just above the deep floors. First time I used these was in 1954 so they've been around at least as long as that.
I also remember tank cleaning at anchor at The Tail o' The Bank prior to going up to Barclay Curle Drydock. Our anti-pollution system was a joy to behold. It consisted of pumping all the dirty oil-sludge filled waste water from the Butterworth system into No.6 Centre tank. When that tank was full; it was emptied overboard. Since oil floats on water - it was the job of the pumpman and apprentice to watch for the first sign of oil emitting from the overboard discharge. When this 'showed' the valves were closed and the cleaning operation continued until we had a load of sludge in No.6 and all but one clean, gas free tank. The sludge was then pumped into a purpose-built sludge barge together with the remaining material from No.6.


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## d.r.wing

I was a lecky and not involved with tank cleaning as such, I do remember a 
2nd enr. making a venturie out of brass to suck the water/sludge from the tank being cleaned to storage. I think we used to discharge the sludge etc to shore tanks. I started work as a dockyard apprentice in 1952 and tankers along side were using the canvas vents then.


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## kewl dude

*When I was a tanker stiff*

we were not set up for a slops tank. When we changed cargo we would go in and discharge our product then leave and go outside until we were well out of sight of land, then drift around out there and Butterworth our tanks, pumping everything overboard into the sea. 

There we sat drifting with our oily puddle. Every so often the mate would call down and we'd engage the engine and move out of our mess. When done we would go back in and get inspected and load product.

I attach an image of the ship the USS Pecos AO-65. In the early 1970's the US Navy enlistments were WAY down. Can you say Vietnam. So the Navy took their men off their auxiliary ships and put them on ships with guns, and hired we civilians to operate their auxiliary ships. The Navy brought this ship into a Navy Shipyard and the 285 enlisted and officers who ran her all left and we 31 much higher paid civilians took over.

The only changes were they took off the guns and took away 250 six high berth racks. Since the Navy had fourteen people on each engine watch, eight in the boiler room alone, we wondered if their ships we different. Nope. Same automatic equipment by the same maker as the civilian T2's.

We ran as we usually did with a Fireman/Watertender, an Oiler and an Assistant Engineer each of three watches.

The second picture show the bos'n, left and the pumpman. This civilian crew thing on military vessels was an example of what we COULD do. Sail a conventional ship with 31 total crew. The contracts were placed out to bid and companies put together the best deal they could. BUT ALL the Unions involved had to agree too. To reduced manning. So we only had one instead of two pumpmen, so when we cleaned tanks he earned 26 hours of overtime for each 24 hours he worked. And the pumpman and bos'n were duplicates of each other and during the hours of darkness they each got some sleep spelling each other. 

There was a skipper and three versus four mates. The Chief Mate worked the 8-12 watch. All the more reason for a strong bos'n and pumpman. A Chief Engineer and three assistants, the 1 A/E, me, stood the 8-12 watch.

Greg Hayden


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## Shiny

Wasn't there something called "gollering" a sort of water driven vacuum/hoover you took down into the tank to suck up the sludge?
I remember replacing the anodes as well - big ingots bolted inside the tank to reduce rusting(?)
Shiny


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## JimC

Shiny said:


> Wasn't there something called "gollering" a sort of water driven vacuum/hoover you took down into the tank to suck up the sludge?
> I remember replacing the anodes as well - big ingots bolted inside the tank to reduce rusting(?)
> Shiny


Don't remember 'gollering' but seem to recall using a 'stripping pump'.
Long time ago - for me 47 years to be exact!

Jim C.


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## andysk

JimC said:


> ........ Also remember using canvas venting systems which consisted of a four sided canvas 'sail' suspended over the tank lid feeding down into a long canvas tube extending to just above the deep floors. First time I used these was in 1954 so they've been around at least as long as that ........


We used exactly the same system on Hector Heron in the mid 1970's - see the attached pic.


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## Pat Kennedy

Does anyone remember the tank cleaning ship, "Tulip Glen" which was usually based in Glasgow, although she hailed from Birkenhead.
She was a small, maybe 600 ton vessel that would come alongside the ship.
And they would hoist steam hoses on board and insert them into the tanks. Then live steam would do the bulk of the work. They still had to send a black gang down afterwards to mop up, but I believe it was a lot faster and more thorough than any other method. 
Pat


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## chadburn

I have a feeling that the "Tulip Glen" was an ex Navy vessel (steam job T.E.) something like an old oiler which was converted for oil tank slopping the name sounds familiar to me. At the same time there use to be a de-gaussing vessel doing the rounds although not at the same time on the same ship!!


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## vasco

Shiny said:


> Wasn't there something called "gollering" a sort of water driven vacuum/hoover you took down into the tank to suck up the sludge?
> I remember replacing the anodes as well - big ingots bolted inside the tank to reduce rusting(?)
> Shiny


Suspect you mean GOLAR fans? 

The sucking of sludge may well have been done by an eductor (venturi effect http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venturi_effect) or the Wilden Pump (http://www.wildenpump.com/catalog/category_2.cfm), both still used around the coast today.


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## NINJA

When I was on the Cavendish, a LPG tanker in the early 70's we still erected sails to help in the gas freeing of the cargo tanks before going into drydock.


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## Steve Woodward

I remember a device for removing sludge and scale from cargo tanks, it consisted of a hopper feeding the muck shovelled up from the bottom of the tanks into a set of rotating crushers to break up the larger pieces of scale then feeding the sludge into a powerful water-jet eductor which propelled the sludge out of the tank and over the side, this is old technology and now banned, the name of the device was a Beaver-Jet


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## Monket

Nobody's mentioned the slug of "Board of Trade " rum you were given when you came out of the tanks.
You were supposed to drink it straight down which would take your breath away and expel the gas from your lungs.
Where were "elf and safety" when you needed them.


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## Raz Jones

On Esso Tankers in the early 60's we used the Butterworth Tank washing system and the Vent-Axia water powered extracting machines we AB's were always well rewarded with liberal tots of 4 Bells rum by the Chief Officers at every break for mealtimes and smoko's etc, great days they were ha ha ha.
Regards Ray


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## jimmys

*Tankcleaning*

I worked for Texaco and we did a lot of tank cleaning. In the early eighties I was seconded across to PanOcean Anco on the Anco Sceptre for motor time and to obtain chemical and chemical product endorsements on my certificate. I was there for six months. 
On these ships the deck crowd "puddled" the cargo tanks with buckets and pans to clean them out. They were welcome to it.
The vessel also had a Golar vent fan. It was driven by steam turbine and this fan was "The Mad Geordie", built by a famous Newcasle company.
I was a steam man and was asked by the Mate to operate it, the motor men would not go near it. No wonder it was aptly named.

regards
jimmys


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## randcmackenzie

Steve Woodward said:


> I remember a device for removing sludge and scale from cargo tanks, it consisted of a hopper feeding the muck shovelled up from the bottom of the tanks into a set of rotating crushers to break up the larger pieces of scale then feeding the sludge into a powerful water-jet eductor which propelled the sludge out of the tank and over the side, this is old technology and now banned, the name of the device was a Beaver-Jet


Dickerman pump was another type of sludge eductor which could be powered either by air or water pressure.

Still widely used for residue removal from ballast tanks, dry cargo holds etc, and very effective.

Depending on the residue it goes faster than you can shovel.

I know of one class of OBO which has the whole system permanently in place for dry cargo residue disposal.


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## dmor319

*Tank Cleaninig*

Here is a photo of tank cleaning of the DERBY mid sixties.


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## dmor319

dmor319 said:


> Here is a photo of tank cleaning of the DERBY mid sixties.


I must ammend this as we were tank diving.The shot of rum that we got must have been watered down as it tasted like old spice.


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## Bill Davies

*Gas Freeing on OBOs*
One of the first OBOs I was on involved making ready the ship for her first Bulk Cargo (Ore) from Dampier. We had discharged the Oil Cargo (ex Ras Tanura) in Iwakuni and commenced a T/C and had to have the vessel 'In all respects ready' on arrival Dampier. I make that point because you paid for mistakes with your job.
Usual configuration for Tank Cleaning. Four B/W machines through the Hatch Covers (2P2S) and Four machines trunked through the TSTks.(2P2S).
On completion of the wash remove the machines from the Hatch covers )keep the outer TSTk machines operating (keeps the temp up). When machines from Hatch Covers are clear stop washing with outer machines. Bring vessel around so she has wind across the ship and open the Hatches (thoughts of Venturi, Bernoulli for the academically inclined)
*
Hey Presto you are Gas Free in five minutes.* We might have to use the Wilden slurry pumps to assist with cleaning out the wells.


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## mikeg

I recall Meco (Mining Engineeering Co.) fume extraction tank fans being used (the 60's?) on many Shell Tankers (UK) ships. Had a suspicion they were taken from use because of the possibility of sparking - am I remembering correctly? (assuming there are some Joe Shell folk out there today).

Mike


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## Brian Locking

Bill Davies said:


> *Gas Freeing on OBOs*
> One of the first OBOs I was on involved making ready the ship for her first Bulk Cargo (Ore) from Dampier. We had discharged the Oil Cargo (ex Ras Tanura) in Iwakuni and commenced a T/C and had to have the vessel 'In all respects ready' on arrival Dampier. I make that point because you paid for mistakes with your job.
> Usual configuration for Tank Cleaning. Four B/W machines through the Hatch Covers (2P2S) and Four machines trunked through the TSTks.(2P2S).
> On completion of the wash remove the machines from the Hatch covers )keep the outer TSTk machines operating (keeps the temp up). When machines from Hatch Covers are clear stop washing with outer machines. Bring vessel around so she has wind across the ship and open the Hatches (thoughts of Venturi, Bernoulli for the academically inclined)
> *
> Hey Presto you are Gas Free in five minutes.* We might have to use the Wilden slurry pumps to assist with cleaning out the wells.


You must have nerves of steel.


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## Kaituo

*Gollering on a bit.....*

The Golar Extractor was a water driven eductor which used to be used for stripping out tank washings ( and in my day, putting them over the side ! )

The eductor systems are still used but not the portable types of the '60s which used Butterworth water to power them. They are generally built in to the cargo and ballast system and powered off the cargo or ballast pumps discharge side.

Nowadays with segregated ballast , the aggravation of cleaning cargo tanks fit for use as ballast tanks is long forgotten as far as I'm aware anyway. 
The only time we ever water-wash cargo tanks is for survey or drydocking..... Rest of the time we COW (crude oil wash ) to remove sludge and wax.

I bet they didn't have such fun on passenger ships !


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## david freeman

*Methods of Tank cleaning*



d.r.wing said:


> Anyone know when the canvas wind sails were introduced to vent tanks, and how do they do it nowadays?


After The King Hakkon, Malpasa and Matra Tank washing took on some interesting methodology. 3 of which I list, which I believe were carried out and the fore runner of the load ontop and IG system of today.
1 You had the use of Inert Gas from Boiler Flue and diesel Engine Exhaust systems, The Idea was to keep the O2 % below 6% or a max of 9% during tank washing operations. Gas Freeing was either by water driven portable vent fans or If IG was not needed i.e. entering drydock, by using the IG fan with a suction plate in the funnel space-The Flues Blocked of or isoloated. or if it was for voyage repairs-Wet Dock? then ig pressure and4-6% was kept in the tank space while work remote from the tanks was undertaken.
2 By using the over rich system(NO-IG) and crude washing relying on the gases from the crude wash gun cleaning machines to generate an atmosphere of Over Rich and minimum 1 or 2% O2. Again water driven fans portable were used to gas free each tank.
3 A modification of the over rich system was a process using guncleaning machines in the over rich state and to gas free, flood the tank from the bottom up using sea water and a hoover type nozzle to remove the remaining strippings from the cleaning process to the load on top tank, until the tank was flooded onto the deck through the tank lid. The sea water from the bottom ensured that the %O2 from the washing process remained rich?

I am not sure of the product tankers, I think they remained traditional with potable butterworth machinery and portable water fans, until IG was perfected and guarenteed not to contaminate the cargos.
With the introduction of the IG fan and its impoved pressure delivery system the 'Golar' Vents were introduced to force the vented gasseous mixes upwards in the air for dispersal, for places like UMM Said were the BR Crown Blew up due to the gases from Loading through open loading creeping along the main deck and being ignited by the electrical equipment in the centre castle- Another design reason for the all aft oil tanker


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## d.r.wing

David, thanks for the description of the 3 methods it's 45 yrs since I was last at sea working on clean oil tankers, this thread has given me an insight into how tank cleaning has improved although there were not too many accidents from the old methods. As for all aft accomodation verses a center castle does this mean that gasses are less likely to to enter the accomodation, or is there some other reason?


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## david freeman

*Tanker Practice*



d.r.wing said:


> David, thanks for the description of the 3 methods it's 45 yrs since I was last at sea working on clean oil tankers, this thread has given me an insight into how tank cleaning has improved although there were not too many accidents from the old methods. As for all aft accomodation verses a center castle does this mean that gasses are less likely to to enter the accomodation, or is there some other reason?


 I remember a book tanker practice by GAB King MD for BP Tankers and former Chief Marine Superintendent. His book may be available at the Nautical or Marines Institute library published in some time in the late 50's early 60's. It became a bible along with The COS Tanker Practice and the international tanker owners/operators manual of the early 60's issued to all BP Tankers, and published by COS ICOS and INTERTANKCO. These may be available from archives of the Marine institutes or the chamber of Shipping either UK or the international one.

The all aft accommodation had no access from the main tank deck into the aft accommodation like the 3 island traditional designed tanker.
Regards
Dave Freeman


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## Orbitaman

Following on from david's description of the three types of cleaning on crude tankers, the three types on product tankers are very similar:

1. Washing in an inert atmosphere, where the tank atmosphere is pruged to less than 5% hydrocarbon gas by volume and maintained in this state throughout washing, whether by fixed or portable machines.
2. Washing in an over rich atmosphere, where the tank atmosphere is maintained in an atmosphere where the hydrocarbon gas volume is greater than that in which a flame or explosion will occur due to the lack of oxygen. This system of cleaning is a VERY specialist type and will not be carried out by the crew of a tanker in the normal scheme of things as it is almost impossible to maintain an over rich atmosphere at all times.
3. Washing in an uncontrolled atmosphere, the type that most tankermen would have employed before the days of inert gas, where, as its name implies the tank atmosphere is uncontrolled and those responsible for the cleaning have to take suitable precautions to ensure a spark does not occur during the process or - BOOM!


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## mrgrump

Back in the sixties we used butterworth machines usually two to a tank. About a hour for each of the wing tanks and some what longer for center tanks. Most of the time we washed with cold sea water. In preperation for the yard we used hot sea water. Then the tanks were gas freed with either steam or air driven copous blowers. The deck gang had the honor of going into the tanks and muck them out. Lots of fun particually on black oil ships. Sometimes the scale was so heavy it would trap the vapors You would get a free buzz.


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## david freeman

*tank cleaning cement boxes*



mrgrump said:


> Back in the sixties we used butterworth machines usually two to a tank. About a hour for each of the wing tanks and some what longer for center tanks. Most of the time we washed with cold sea water. In preperation for the yard we used hot sea water. Then the tanks were gas freed with either steam or air driven copous blowers. The deck gang had the honor of going into the tanks and muck them out. Lots of fun particually on black oil ships. Sometimes the scale was so heavy it would trap the vapors You would get a free buzz.


While tank digging and scale removal some of the joys on the older ships without epoxy coatings was to apply cement boxes and pipeclips to offending leaks. many a happy day and wonderful designs in the cir***stances, this was done by engineers on field days or apprentices under the whip? Good old days Eh!?


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## d.r.wing

David F. You have reminded me of my voyage on a Tanker going to the breakers at the end of a 12 month trip. she leaked like a bucket and most tanks had a cement box fitted during the trip! 
With regard to my original question re wind sails and when first used I have noticed in old photo's of BP Tankers built in 1917 that they had the necessary rigging for wind sails to degass the tanks so I think this must have been a practice from the early 1900's.


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## Geoff_E

When I joined my first BP ship in 1970 (British Flag) I'm sure she still had the canvas windsails stowed in the foc'sle. They seem to have been in common use on coastal tankers until comparatively recently, (perhaps still?)
Incidentally, we had a mixture of Butterworth & Viktor Pyrate tank washing machines, depending on ship. They were eventually succeeded by Toftjorg machines - same principle, but much smaller and handier to lug around. Gas-freeing fans were usually water driven, though I do recall air driven ones too.


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## david freeman

The Penzance Pirates? Tulip H. While in Drydock on the Tyne, the tank cleaners for Oil fuel Double bottoms and Settling/bunnker Tanks where I believe from the Tulip H? Quite a group of men. I do not know if I have the correct barge/ship name, but I do remember their work. Anyone else?.


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## price

Prior to loading chemicals or other cargoes where the cargo tanks were required to be bone dry, you could use extractors to gas free, if you had them, but, there was no other method more effective to dry the tanks than windsails.
Bruce.


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## TCC

I've just bumped into a maybe 'apocryphal' tale of a man cleaning a tank who was propelled out of it after lighting up a smoke.

True? Possible? Folk lore? Any funny or interesting tales of tank cleaning on tankers?

My eldest brother once signed on a tanker (early-mid 70s), I recall his describing tank cleaning as a "f-in terrible job" and that you couldn't wear synthetic fabrics due to the dangers of static (sparks). It may have been the danger that caused his aversion to type?

I think he reached A/B seaman.


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## chadburn

I alway's felt that the worst shipboard job had to be the Fireman's on a coal burner, however, I had forgotten about the Oil Tank Cleaner's, what an awful job for a man to undertake. They came on board looking like Old Mother Riley (with their headscarve's on) and clothes which appeared to have come from the Rag Shop, mutton cloth across their mouth and in the tank they went, alway's cheerful considering the job and the possible long term health implication's. But like working with Asbestos the danger's were not revealed to the people who were actually working in both enviroment's.


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## howardws

I was 4th Engineer on a Texaco Tanker, about 17,000 tons, probably about 1964. We were Butterworthing via the fire main at 200psi 200degrees F. The seamen had been told that as we were using a positive displacement pump (steam up and down) they must always open an overboard hose before shutting off. They didn't and the fire main burst over the top of the boilers. My first inkling was a scream from the boiler room where the boiler man was found dancing from foot to foot as the hot water and 17 years worth of soot flowed across the plates as we rolled.


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## Split

d.r.wing said:


> Anyone know when the canvas wind sails were introduced to vent tanks, and how do they do it nowadays?


In Caltex we experienced the changeover around 1960. Ours were driven by hydraulic power. We hated them because of the time they took. A good breeze would gas free a tank in very short time with windsails-


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## Ron Stringer

The Shell/Eagle Oil tanker "San Florentino" was still using wind sails for gas freeing in 1964 when I was on her.


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## tom roberts

Cleaned a few tanks ie Shell,B.P.,Regents, but cleaning Opobo Palms tanks after palm oil cargo what a lousy job , your sheets turned yellow where you had been sweating,the rubber disintergrated on your sea boots ,and they made margerine out of the stuff God forbid, I never ate margerine again.


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## chadburn

david freeman said:


> The Penzance Pirates? Tulip H. While in Drydock on the Tyne, the tank cleaners for Oil fuel Double bottoms and Settling/bunnker Tanks where I believe from the Tulip H? Quite a group of men. I do not know if I have the correct barge/ship name, but I do remember their work. Anyone else?.


Although it's a long time ago, I think the vessel was possibly called the "Tulipdale" a former RN Isle Class Trawler.


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## Jardine

Ron Stringer said:


> The Shell/Eagle Oil tanker "San Florentino" was still using wind sails for gas freeing in 1964 when I was on her.


The practice was still evident on tankers I sailed in during the early 1970s.


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## david freeman

*Mechanical fans.*



d.r.wing said:


> Anyone know when the canvas wind sails were introduced to vent tanks, and how do they do it nowadays?


I am dreaming now?/ But did the air salvage driven vent fans put air into the tanks( FD Fans), and the extractor fans where water driven from the butterworth or fire main. The reasoning air in less of chance of a spark from a failing blade and in the extrator fan Plastic less lightly to ignite exhausting gas vapours while in the explosive range? This could off course be all B---lls? Good thinking batman.


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## Pat Kennedy

chadburn said:


> Although it's a long time ago, I think the vessel was possibly called the "Tulipdale" a former RN Isle Class Trawler.


This was mentioned earlier in the thread, (2008) by you, me, and others Chas.
The Tulip fleet was owned by British Foster Wheeler Process Ltd of Liverpool, and there were about six ships.
The Tulipglen worked the West coast, Liverpool, Glasgow Avonmouth, and attended to all Blue Funnel, Clan and Bibby ships in those ports.
I knew the crowd on the Tulipglen, all from Birkenhead, and they would work in Clover's shiprepair yard when not required on the ship, apart from the Skipper Barney Murphy, and Chief Engineer George Hudson, who were permanent. the rest of them were a crowd of ne'er do wells, who nevertheless worked like dogs down those tanks.
Pat(Smoke)


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## Burntisland Ship Yard

Whilst not directly in line with this string, my memories of tank cleaning remain as a distant memory, particularly on the Norway where Les Hayton aka Sezzz Lezzz was the chief. We were hot buttorworthing for dry dock, and as fate had it I seemed always to be the engineer on watch when we were lining up the hot butty.
The butty {if memory serves me right] was in the pump room, and the "returns" drain line came into the bilge plates. As soon as the steam went on, you had to "pop" down to get a returns sample [using the specially designed tool, that is copper bottle attached to a broom pole] then back up to the control room, pour sample into glass beaker, put beaker next to control room a/c fan, cool down and test for cholides.....
Well, what always happened, I got nthe sample, just poured into beaker and the phone would start, it was Les "whats the chlorides" / test again, all this water we are wasting !!!!!!
Well, who needs rowing machines !!!!!!
Happy Days !


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## John Campbell

Burntisland Ship Yard said:


> Whilst not directly in line with this string, my memories of tank cleaning remain as a distant memory, particularly on the Norway where Les Hayton aka Sezzz Lezzz was the chief. We were hot buttorworthing for dry dock, and as fate had it I seemed always to be the engineer on watch when we were lining up the hot butty.
> The butty {if memory serves me right] was in the pump room, and the "returns" drain line came into the bilge plates. As soon as the steam went on, you had to "pop" down to get a returns sample [using the specially designed tool, that is copper bottle attached to a broom pole] then back up to the control room, pour sample into glass beaker, put beaker next to control room a/c fan, cool down and test for cholides.....
> Well, what always happened, I got nthe sample, just poured into beaker and the phone would start, it was Les "whats the chlorides" / test again, all this water we are wasting !!!!!!
> Well, who needs rowing machines !!!!!!
> Happy Days !



Your ref to Lez Hayton - possibly one of the best Chiefs that I had the good fortune to sail with. I too sail with him on the Norway. We had just started to change ballast during tank cleaning when we had a pump room fire and Les Hayton,s prompt action on closing down all the PR vents and opening all the fire fighting foam inlets put it out- it was touch and go though. 
The Hardy-spicer coupling had failed and allowed the drive shaft to flail about slicing open the hydraulic lines to the valves in turn allowing oil to spray on to the red hot bearings on the top of No 1 Shinko Pump. A bucket of kerosene that the pump man had taken down to clean up the pumps did not jelp either.
Happy Days
JC


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## Burntisland Ship Yard

Cheers John, it was a pleasure to sail with Les, my first recollection of him was when he joined the Norway in Triniday {Feb 2006 ish} he was on the launch with is {we had been up at the club in P.A.P} as you know there were usually several of Texaco's fleet swinging on the hook, anyway, when we arrived alongside the Norway Les was first up the accom ladder, and went straight to the I.G.S to see if the fan had been fixed !!!

Due to different cir***stances John Seller's was extremely relieved to hand back the Norway to Les !

Again, happy days !


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## kewl dude

Attached: MainUnit-TurbineLeft-GeneratorRight-ButterworthSteamHeatersandPipingonBulkhead.jpg (101.2 KB)

On T2’s the Butterworthing heaters and control station was just aft of the throttle, mounted on the engine room side of the aft port fuel tank/settler.

Heater condensate drains flowed through a salt cell wired to the ships Salinometer.

Greg Hayden


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## John Hebblewhite

Shiny said:


> Wasn't there something called "gollering" a sort of water driven vacuum/hoover you took down into the tank to suck up the sludge?
> I remember replacing the anodes as well - big ingots bolted inside the tank to reduce rusting(?)
> Shiny


Hi..you mean a Golar ejector....used a va***e system driven by a hose from the deck service line(salt water). The water/product was dischared overside on the discharge hose. They were very good but with authorities these days looking for any discharges from tankers at sea and in port they are now redundant.

John


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## Dickyboy

Weren't Golars also used to suck water from under oil, for example in a flooded engine room or pump boom bilge?


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## Captain2

Sailed on the British Princess the last ship out of Abadan escorted by hms Essex


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## chadburn

No#26 is a good one, Brian Locking was a glove puppet of Bill.Davies. and is a reminder of how he went about his self adulation. I wonder if he does the same on the other site.


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## trevpotter

i was cleaning tanks on th ss Hygromia, we were on the vietnam run, carrying avgas and jp4, while down the tank i was overcome by fumes, i had to be flown home to england, that was 1967, i have latly tryed to get a copy of the ships log. and found that it is blocked. on my discharge papers it says that i wanted to go fishing, so they sent me home, have anyone out there had the same happen to them? i have been on valiam since the incident.that is 45 years. anyone had that?


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## Frank P

Regarding being overcome by fumes.

In the 1970’s when I was on the chemical tanker M/T Hallanger, we loaded anything up to 13 different types of chemicals. On one trip we were about to start loading cargo in one of the wing tanks and the Mate looked down the tank hatch and noticed that there was what looked like a wet patch (puddle) at the bottom of the tank, he then sent a couple of us down in the tank to clean and dry the mess, when we got down there and disturbed the liquid substance it turned out to be chemicals that had leaked in from the centre tank that was full (Cyclo I think) we were immediately overcome and felt dizzy, luckily the Mate was still standing by the tank hatch and he saw and heard what was going on and he got the bosun and he came down in to the tank with a couple of safety harness’s and breathing gear and he brought us both out. After a while on deck we both recovered and we felt ok, we were given the rest of day off and that was it. We were very lucky.

Cheers Frank


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## roofaerosyth

i had a bad experience in a demin tank that was to be de-scaled and re-painted a couple of years ago .(on an ex mod tcv).it had been venting all weekend but because the tank was so badly corroded, when i was in it on the monday(to rig-up lighting for the job at hand), my wee clip-on gas meter went crazy and i was instantly struggling for air.(i could actually taste metal in my mouth).i managed to get out ok but according to the tank sentry that was there , my face was grey.i felt a bit woozy for 5 mins but i was ok.it certainly makes you think though. thank god for that wee multi-meter thing i had clipped on before i went in.its amazing how quickly things can go wrong. LIFES TOO SHORT ! regards all.roo.


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## ninabaker

I was at sea with BP Tankers 1972-77 and dont ever remember any kind of ship where tank cleaning involved actually going down and manually cleaning out with buckets etc as described by various posts above.

What i do remember was still grindingly dull, hard work of setting up water driven fans onto special openings in the deck for each tank and manually lowering the water driven tank washing machines, usually brass Butterworths, with their hoses. These machines were distant cousins of the lawn sprinkler in that they had two rotating nozzles to ensure full coverage of the tank. The oil water mix was then pumped to another tank to settle out a bit before the watery bit was pumped over board.

There was some sort of (electronic??) device that allowed you to detect the approximate depth of the oil-water interface so that not too much oil was pumped out.

Possibly apocryphally it was said that some ship managed to create a stable emulsified foam in the settling tank that couldnt be pumped out by normal means and had to go to some shore facility to get emptied. Could that be right? 

BP used to give everyone on tank washing a tot of 4 Bells rum at the end, as we would have been working long hours to get it done between ports, especially when coasting. I must say that I would rather be deep sea any day, just to reduce the amount of tank washing. No amount of rum really compensates for the boringness and hard work.


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## Pat Kennedy

ninabaker said:


> I was at sea with BP Tankers 1972-77 and dont ever remember any kind of ship where tank cleaning involved actually going down and manually cleaning out with buckets etc as described by various posts above.
> 
> What i do remember was still grindingly dull, hard work of setting up water driven fans onto special openings in the deck for each tank and manually lowering the water driven tank washing machines, usually brass Butterworths, with their hoses. These machines were distant cousins of the lawn sprinkler in that they had two rotating nozzles to ensure full coverage of the tank. The oil water mix was then pumped to another tank to settle out a bit before the watery bit was pumped over board.
> 
> There was some sort of (electronic??) device that allowed you to detect the approximate depth of the oil-water interface so that not too much oil was pumped out.
> 
> Possibly apocryphally it was said that some ship managed to create a stable emulsified foam in the settling tank that couldnt be pumped out by normal means and had to go to some shore facility to get emptied. Could that be right?
> 
> BP used to give everyone on tank washing a tot of 4 Bells rum at the end, as we would have been working long hours to get it done between ports, especially when coasting. I must say that I would rather be deep sea any day, just to reduce the amount of tank washing. No amount of rum really compensates for the boringness and hard work.


There was usually a residue to be scraped up into buckets and hauled up on deck. it was called 'puddling'
regards, 
Pat
(Thumb)


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## ninabaker

Pat Kennedy said:


> There was usually a residue to be scraped up into buckets and hauled up on deck. it was called 'puddling'
> regards,
> Pat
> (Thumb)


So I gather from other people's comments, but all I can say is that this wasnt done on any product or crude ships I was on. I dare say that eventually it must have been necessary in any ship, and obviously would be done during drydock, but not as a routine thing on the ships I sailed in. I do recall the occasional total venting of clean tanks so that people could go down to mend a valve, say, or make a cement box, but that would be about it!


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## Split

ninabaker said:


> So I gather from other people's comments, but all I can say is that this wasnt done on any product or crude ships I was on. I dare say that eventually it must have been necessary in any ship, and obviously would be done during drydock, but not as a routine thing on the ships I sailed in. I do recall the occasional total venting of clean tanks so that people could go down to mend a valve, say, or make a cement box, but that would be about it!


This thread covers a long time so, sorry, if I repeat what I may have mentioned before. Most of my tanker time was in T2's, many decades ago. We never mopped up sludge from tank bottoms, the normal Butterworth process took care of that. What we did lift, though, were many buckets per tank of rust! My word, it was a wonder that there was any ship left by the time I left in the early sixties.


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## stevekelly10

The introduction of Crude oil washing in the late 1970's early !980's greatly reduced the amount of "sludge" remaining onboard after discharge and most of what did remain ended up in the slop tank. When the time came to clean the slop tank i.e drydocking, ship disposal then you had to revert to the old method of digging it out!


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## linglis

I was on BP Tankers 71-76, mostly crude carriers, we had to clean the carbon from the area's the tank washing machines couldnt reach.
It was called Tank diving, rubber buckets, non-metal shovels, an air operated winch was used to haul the buckets to the deck.
Breathing Apparatus was kept handy.


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## matthew flinders

linglis said:


> ... It was called Tank diving, rubber buckets, non-metal shovels, an air operated winch was used to haul the buckets to the deck.
> Breathing Apparatus was kept handy.


Also in the 60s. On BRITISH HONOUR the mate even had us weighing the amount of rust we got out before it was dumped overside (also the tank washings in those days!).


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## stevenstavros

*Butterworths where made of Brass.*



afuel said:


> In late 60's we were using Butterworth steam driven/steam heated sea water.
> 
> Butterworths were mounted on round deck mounts (cover unbolted and removed) and then the 2 large nozzles (Butterworth machine) spinning at 150 rpm or so would be lowered every few minutes or so to wash sides of tanks down.
> 
> The deck gang would go down into tanks, after the waste overboard and muck out the heavy stuff with buckets and rope. Until tanks were clean and gas free.
> 
> Hard, hot, dirty work.


Just I was on the Golden Falcon, built in Birkenhead, Liverpool in 1953, as the Stanvac India. See picture of me in white handkerchief on head at the back, smiling, from the buzz of fumes, Butterworths as I remember where very heavy, and every so often we would lower them down, starting from top to bottom. myself and a couple of other AB's including 2 officers filled buckets with rusted metal and oil, cleaning each section of the tank, heading for Bethlehem Steel Drydocks in Baltimore, see attached picture.


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## engineer64

In 1973 Mobil Pegasus had an explosion after tank cleaning. It happened when taking sea water ballast. The explosion occured because the inlet valves to the tank were fully opened.The inrush of water created static electricity & the explosion. Ships were instructed to partially open valves until the valve outlet was covered then they could be fully opened.


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## oldman 80

engineer64 said:


> In 1973 Mobil Pegasus had an explosion after tank cleaning. It happened when taking sea water ballast. The explosion occured because the inlet valves to the tank were fully opened.The inrush of water created static electricity & the explosion. Ships were instructed to partially open valves until the valve outlet was covered then they could be fully opened.


Yes static was always a problem. Ask anyone from Shell in those days. Their M class vessels in particular, were forever blowing up with horrendous consequence.
In todays world of COWING it should not be forgotten (no matter how good the I.G. is) Do not wash with "wet" crude oil. Discharge the bottom of the tank first, (maybe 10% of the total within it) then declare it as the COW reservoir. i.e. get rid of any water/oil mix at the bottom, before using that tank for wash oil supply. The static problem is magnified when "wet" oil (i.e. with water particles within it) is emitted from the machine nozzles at pressure.
The IG may not always be as good as your instruments are telling you. Play it safe - always.
COWing - and IG - the best things to happen to tankers - for sure.
(Thumb)

Edit/Addition:- And should you have to ballast your cargo tanks on Crude Carriers utilising bottom lines, then it's best you start slowly slowly,/ gently, gently, until the suctions are well submerged - then you can wind up your pumps, but not before that.


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## Frank P

engineer64 said:


> In 1973 Mobil Pegasus had an explosion after tank cleaning. It happened when taking sea water ballast. The explosion occured because the inlet valves to the tank were fully opened.The inrush of water created static electricity & the explosion. Ships were instructed to partially open valves until the valve outlet was covered then they could be fully opened.


Hello, I took a photo of the Mobil Pegasus in Lisbon while she was awaiting repairs.

http://www.shipsnostalgia.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=11542

Cheers Frank


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## Ken Wood

My worst tank cleaning experience was in 1973 on Stolt Lion. We completed discharging multi-grade chemicals in the Gulf. The office decided it would be a good wheez for us to load crude for Bangkok, the to the Philippines to load coconut oil for the States.
We also loaded gasoil (150 tons?) in one of the wing tanks. After Bangkok we butterworthed with gasoil, then hot seawater, followed by cold seawater, then freshwater. After all that it was tank diving and manually cleaning and mopping, draining heating coils and valves. We still didn't achieve 100% cleanliness. Been wary of Bounty bars ever since!


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## scotvet

I remember 'puddling' when I served with Panocean Anco. They would keep the heating coils on at the bottom of the tank, and whilst one man at the tank hatch, and one man half way down, kept watch, the rest would use big squeegies and push palm oil down to the pump head. It was a job and knock, but you could be at it a while. My record was up for 36 hours, and the tanks weren't emptied for 12 hours more.


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## William Clark8

*Tank cieaning*



Frank P said:


> afuel,
> 
> You are right about the hot and hard dirty work but it meant that there was plenty of overtime to be had.
> 
> Cheers Frank(Thumb)


DON'T FORGET THE 'FOUR BELLS' ESPECIALY OF YOU WERE
ON A DECENT BOAT(Pint)(Thumb)


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## Stephen J. Card

William Clark8 said:


> DON'T FORGET THE 'FOUR BELLS' ESPECIALY OF YOU WERE
> ON A DECENT BOAT(Pint)(Thumb)



Well, down in the bottom of a tank for a week.... rolling in a typhoon in the China Sea. As cadet... no overtime and NO FOUR BELLS! 
:-( The mate would not give me the rum... so got a pint of milk. Supposed to get you over the stink of the gas. Thankfully the bosun came later and gave me the tot on the quiet. 

The worst part of the 'tank diving' was hooking up the bucket of sludge/rust. As it was going up topside.... you got covered in the muck.


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## david freeman

*Penzance Pirates*



Pat Kennedy said:


> Does anyone remember the tank cleaning ship, "Tulip Glen" which was usually based in Glasgow, although she hailed from Birkenhead.
> She was a small, maybe 600 ton vessel that would come alongside the ship.
> And they would hoist steam hoses on board and insert them into the tanks. Then live steam would do the bulk of the work. They still had to send a black gang down afterwards to mop up, but I believe it was a lot faster and more thorough than any other method.
> Pat


Tulip H Comes to mind on the Tyne, and its crew the Penzance Pirates who would clean out fuel tanks: settling, bunker and double tanks, dashing around not with a gstring but a handfull of cotton waste in the bottom of the drydock. The Tuplic H was mobile and visited various ports on the UK east coast, I only came accross her on the TYne both as an apprentice, and serving ships crew.B\)


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## jasper

scotvet said:


> I remember 'puddling' when I served with Panocean Anco. They would keep the heating coils on at the bottom of the tank, and whilst one man at the tank hatch, and one man half way down, kept watch, the rest would use big squeegies and push palm oil down to the pump head. It was a job and knock, but you could be at it a while. My record was up for 36 hours, and the tanks weren't emptied for 12 hours more.


Remember it well.

£90 a tank split between the crew. Pretty decent back in the day if you had 20+ tanks of the stuff (Palm oil, Rape seed oil, Tallow, Coconut oil).

Handy for those runs ashore (Thumb)


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## barnsey

*The Brass Venturi ......*



d.r.wing said:


> I was a lecky and not involved with tank cleaning as such, I do remember a
> 2nd enr. making a venturie out of brass to suck the water/sludge from the tank being cleaned to storage. I think we used to discharge the sludge etc to shore tanks. I started work as a dockyard apprentice in 1952 and tankers along side were using the canvas vents then.


DAVE......I remember that Brass Venturi, can see it now as if it was yesterday..not 55 years ago!! ....the 2nd Engineer Fewlass? turned it up and we Nav Apps had to use it. It was no more than a foot long and was screwed into two Butterworth hoses...It worked ok but was dammned heavy to manouver around. Saved a lot of buckets of water being hoisted out of the tanks. It also had to be taken apart now and then when rust particles collected in it.

David Barnes ... Br Sergeant


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## barnsey

ninabaker said:


> So I gather from other people's comments, but all I can say is that this wasnt done on any product or crude ships I was on. I dare say that eventually it must have been necessary in any ship, and obviously would be done during drydock, but not as a routine thing on the ships I sailed in. I do recall the occasional total venting of clean tanks so that people could go down to mend a valve, say, or make a cement box, but that would be about it!


Nina Nina.... You intimated you did some Coasting, if you were a clean oil vessel (Birdy Boat) then you would have perhaps carried a NATO ATG (Aviation Turbine Gasoline) cargo, highly susceptible to static if there was any water around. Those tanks had to be mopped out by hand .... buckets and wads. Took lots of that from IoG to Swedish ports.
David


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## barnsey

afuel said:


> ......... and then the 2 large nozzles (Butterworth machine) spinning at 150 rpm or so would be lowered every few minutes or so to wash sides of tanks down.


afuel ...... have to put this right I'm afraid. Most of the tank washing machines, generically called "Butterworth machines" operated on the same principle. The high pressure around 200psi water entered the machine at the top where there was a 'turbine blade'. This turned the gearing inside the machine which turned the machine in azimuth and the nozzles in the vertical. The 'Butterworth' manual gave the time for a completion of the cycle ...360 degrees in azimuth ... for a given pressure. Depending on the state of the tanks, black oil or clean oil you could then decide how many cycles you wanted to do at each "Drop". It was no good doing 5 minutes as the machine may well have only done half a cycle which meant only half the tank had been washed. Sorry but the nozzles certainly did not spin at 150 rpm. Tank washing on a lot of ships were done in a hit and miss fashion without 'Reading the Instructions' or understanding what was going on. The do "20 mins at 10 feet then 20 mins at 20 feet and an hour at 30 feet" was at best luck. Positioning the machine in the space between the web frame of the tank structure so the water jets went all over the tank and not just the web frame was also essential to a good job .... could be 18 feet not 10. Time it so the machine did two cycles ... position the machines in space and you did the job without having to go back and do it again. Easy Peasey.


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## ninabaker

barnsey said:


> Nina Nina.... You intimated you did some Coasting, if you were a clean oil vessel (Birdy Boat) then you would have perhaps carried a NATO ATG (Aviation Turbine Gasoline) cargo, highly susceptible to static if there was any water around. Those tanks had to be mopped out by hand .... buckets and wads. Took lots of that from IoG to Swedish ports.
> David


Mebbe! I cant recall ever doing so though.

nina


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## david freeman

Catching up on this series of blogs. When and before Load on TOP was policy for BP. I somewhere have a thought of a chemical additive 'DASIC' that was used while tank cleaning ( how it was injected into the butterworth machines I am not so sure) the slops were decanted into the after centre tank and then as one passed tanker ally off Malta- the slops would be discharged/pumped overboard, as permitted at the time. Dasic was added to any oil spill, as this enabled the resultant sludge to be of greater gravity than seawater, and gradually sink to the sea bed, before being dispersed.


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## barnsey

Hi David,

The chemical was injected into the 'Butterworth' system with an air driven 'Barrel Pump'. You could set it to deliver the amount required and it would just steadily pump away. 

Neat reciprocating pump in stainless steel, screwed into the hole in the 40 gallon drum. You fitted a union into the Butterworth line to accept the hose from the pump.


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## Hamish Mackintosh

As I recall tank cleaning on the "Splendour" we wore very little when going down the tanks,seaboots of course, but very little else, then when back top side,what we had on went straight over the side, and we washed each other down with the water on deck hose, and then when reasonably clean we would head for the showers,so in Ninas case I should imagine a prudent mate would have her doing chart corrections or some such other "inside" job


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## jasper

barnsey said:


> Hi David,
> 
> The chemical was injected into the 'Butterworth' system with an air driven 'Barrel Pump'. You could set it to deliver the amount required and it would just steadily pump away.
> 
> Neat reciprocating pump in stainless steel, screwed into the hole in the 40 gallon drum. You fitted a union into the Butterworth line to accept the hose from the pump.


Nipped out to give the wash it's ten minute injection of chemical one lunch hour only to return ten minutes later to find Rotterdam harbour awash with "suds". The pumpman had put the wash on hold and the butterwoth line on bleed due to a build up in the tank and not told anybody. Ooops.


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## Tonril

yeah remember the butterworth machines and the puddling. hot , dirty, work. remember the Liverpool dockers getting in on the puddling action one time, crew not happy for missing out on bonus. think I done a trip on anco ship with you jasper


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