When clients mentioned that their tanker fleets in the Southern Hemisphere were travelling long distances to deliver fuel, but were frequently unable to refill their tanks for the return journey because of the danger of chemical corrosion, we believed we could develop a solution to the problem.
As a result, Fort Vale have launched a 4” Stainless Steel API Adaptor to allow for flexible product loading and increased corrosion resistance. The adaptor, suitable for use with a 4” API coupler, used for bottom loading and unloading, provides a quick action, liquid tight mechanical connection for transportation tanks and provides liquid tightness when closed.
Ideally suited for safe chemical transfer between transport and static tanks and designed with an MAWP of 5 Bar and a temperature range of -20 deg C to 70 deg C.
Designed to conform with BS EN 13083:2008+A1:2013 & BS EN 14432:2014
Not every company can do this. Not every company is Fort Vale.
® FORT VALE.
FOLLOW THE LEADER. Visit us at www.fortvale.com
The Stone Age didn’t come to an end because we ran out of stones. There are still plenty around and we still use them, it’s just that other, better materials became available for many of the earlier uses to which stones were put. Likewise, we still use bronze and iron today, although their respective ‘ages’ are long gone.
For millennia, wood provided the primary source of heat for humans, with various waxes and oils of plant or animal sources used for light. Then coal came along, a more effective heat source than wood but with a more narrow range of supply sources, necessitating the development of global supply chains (especially to supply naval vessels with steam coal). Oil proved even easier to extract and move and offered more options to be refined into yet more efficient products, but that did not mean that wood or coal were totally supplanted. Nor did natural gas supplant oil as the primary hydrocarbon, though once more global supply chains (pipeline and LNG) had to be developed.
It is clear we are now moving towards the end of the Age of Oil, as calls for the decarbonisation of the energy chain and industrial and transport activity grow ever louder. It is also becoming clear that the next Age will rely heavily on electricity produced from renewable sources. That is boiling down to the search for ‘green molecules’ as well as ways to move them economically from the point of production to the point of consumption – an unmistakeable signal that yet another supply chain will need to be built, along with its supporting infrastructure.
That probably means that a whole lot of money is going to
have to be spent over the coming decades – but perhaps not as much as we might think. For a start, the points of consumption are mainly going to be in the same parts of the world where oil and gas are currently imported in large quantities, such as Europe, North America, China and other Asian countries – basically, anywhere with a large population and significant levels of industrial activity.
Import facilities already exist and will merely need to be adapted to handle the new carriers of green molecules.
Some of the likely production points and export locations will also be familiar from the oil and gas business, particularly in the Middle East and North Africa, where sunshine is reliable and heavy investment is already underway in photovoltaic solar farms. Norway has hydroelectric power aplenty, as well as wind, to eventually replace its natural gas and oil.
More clarity is also coming forward on the nature of the expected carriers of green molecules, which centre increasingly on hydrogen; this is less easy to move at scale than oil and gas so ammonia, as well as LOHC techniques, seem to be the preferred carriers. That is good news for existing gas ship operators, as there is already an established trade, and for storage terminal operators, many of which are already adept at handling ammonia.
As we report in this month’s issue, there are plenty of projects inching forward and plenty of operators keen to be included; the world will still need oil in the future, if only for petrochemical production, but an increasing audience is ready to listen to alternative fuel sources.
Peter Mackay
VOLUME 44 • NUMBER 01
UP FRONT
Letter from the Editor 01
30 Years Ago 04
Learning by Training 05
Sum of the ports
Terminals invest for the future 06
Where it’s needed
ACT builds in Abu Dhabi 10
Joining forces
Koole seals Alkion deal 12
Pilot-free pilot
Examining the potential of drones 13
First to market
Hamburg aims for ammonia hub 14
News bulletin – storage terminals 16
Agent of change
Sahreej sees benefits of SQAS 18 Track to suit
Bertschi expands in Terneuzen 20
Bombay mix
Rhenus opens in India 22
Wagons roll
Dachser looks at driver behaviour 24 News bulletin – tanks and logistics 26
CONFERENCES
Conference diary 29
SAFETY
Incident Log 30
Hold your fire
ICHCA warns on AN fires on ships 32 Clear the decks
Alert on vehicle fires aboard ship 33
On the road again
WP15 gets to work on next ADR 34 Maple leaf rag
Major update for Canada 40 Aussie rules
Australia revises its Code 42
Stolt questions CII viability 44 News bulletin – regulations 46
Not otherwise specified 48
NEXT MONTH
Chemical tanker market update
UN Model Regulation changes US rule changes ahead Labelling and compliance
HCB Monthly is published by CW Research Ltd. While the information and articles in HCB are published in good faith and every effort is made to check accuracy, readers should verify facts and statements directly with official sources before acting upon them, as the publisher can accept no responsibility in this respect.
HCB’S JANUARY 1993 issue began with some thoughts from the editor, Mike Corkhill, on the grounding of the oil tanker Braer off northern Scotland at the start of the month (Clearly they missed the print deadline on this issue – ed). The tanker had lost power and was forced onto rocks by the tide, resulting in the spillage of 84,500 tonnes of crude oil. Mike noted that this was the second such incident within a few weeks, after a similar mishap befell the tanker Aegean Sea off north-western Spain. We wondered at the time whether accidents like these were due not to a failure of regulation but a failure of enforcement. But the accident led to a lot of changes, prompted in large by Lord Donaldson’s report into the incident and the failure of planning for such accidents. If notice was not taken of his lordship’s words, he had to be brought out of retirement once more only three years later to repeat the exercise when the tanker Sea Empress ran aground near Milford Haven. The two incidents marked something of a sea change in the management of tanker shipping and, thankfully, such incidents have become much rarer since.
January 1993 also marked the entry into force of some significant changes in RID and ADR. Back then, the European regulations had not been fully aligned with the UN Model Regulations, with a completely different arrangement, the use of ‘marginals’ and a long set of appendices. Indeed, the 1993 update was the first for three years. It might be interesting to note that the 1993 editions included a revised definition of ‘vehicle’ in ADR, which has come under scrutiny again lately following the introduction of two- and three-wheeled motorised
‘vehicles’, especially for urban delivery rounds. There was also some improvement in the training provisions, something that again is always on the agenda.
By 1993, HCB had fallen into a pattern of business coverage, with the January issue regularly featuring a special section on storage terminals. In those days, the notable trend was for greater internationalisation of terminal operations. The industry in the mature markets in Europe and North America had reached a comfortable level and, with a growing trend for shippers to consolidate their operations at fewer sites – along with increasing environmental legislation that was discouraging smaller operators – there was consolidation also among the tank storage operators themselves.
The response was to look to develop facilities in other parts of the world, not least in Singapore and the Middle East. However, the promise seen in Latin America, with growing liberalisation of the energy sector, took some time to come to fruition. Back in 1993, the thought of doing business or investing in China was still some way off. Over the past three decades, many of the international (particularly European) terminal operators have filled in the gaps in these territories but, with the energy transition now at the forefront of development plans, are turning increasingly back to their core markets, investing in the infrastructure that will be needed to handle the new and very different product flows predicted for the coming 30 years.
We also reported that, after a quiet decade, a new surge in LNG trade was underway. We hadn’t seen anything yet!
IT IS A SOCIAL cultural problem that is difficult or impossible to solve for as many as four reasons: incomplete or contradictory knowledge, the number of people and opinions involved, the large economic burden, and the interconnected nature of these problems with other problems. Does this sound familiar? To tackle and solve such problems it is important to learn what complexity is. Complexity can be described as follows:
When an organisation, corporation, industry or political process is understood as a living system of communication, their interconnected and interdependent relationships within and outside of their networks change all the time. This complexity, due to dynamic and perpetually changing information feedback loops, cannot be managed by direct causal action (cause and effect reactions) but can only be maximally controlled by steering with that information in real time. Adaptability to constantly evolving changes by using all information directly is needed to ensure continuity and longevity of the living system.
Nature works like that too. Complexity is a consequence of a myriad of unknown factors, relationships and reliance that nevertheless have a direct impact on organisations and can only be ‘controlled’ by learning and actual adaptation in real time. These so-called non-linear effects or non-causal stimuli - from often unknown but interconnected and interdependent sources - cannot be controlled by old-fashioned linear measures of control such as regulations or compliance, but can be ‘navigated’ by the use of positive and negative feedback, i.e. amplifying or correcting information. Cybernetics is needed here to make sure all information is used.
When only linear control systems, such as empirical verification by
reductionism or ISO standards are used, they will not be able to cover a non-linear or complex reality which consists of a linear (cause & effect) part, but for a larger extent of a non-linear, non-causal or dynamic part, which is much greater and cannot be known in advance, because it constantly changes due to unforeseen and unknowable actions by the entire, also dynamic, network of which it is a part and on which all forms of organisation are dependent. In short: behaviour of the parts in a network cannot be predicted. Awareness of such behaviour is needed but needs a new, systemic point of view.
Control systems we have tried such as HSEQ control, industrial compliance and ESG ecological restrictions have not been able to maintain equilibrium or homeostasis in the way nature does. Nature works according to cybernetical principles. All we have to do is to learn from and copy nature because we are a part of and dependent on it. One tries to regulate and control the linear world by means of rules, laws, police, army and power, i.e. by force. But this falls short because then you can only control a small part of reality and you will always be too late because this can only work reactively and never proactively. That is why TankTerminalTraining developed a training method focusing on the ‘steering’ of complexity of bulk liquid storage and shipping. Arend van Campen is invited to speak about ‘Uncertainty’ at the upcoming European Bulk Liquid Storage Conference in Rotterdam.
This is the latest in a monthly series of articles by Arend van Campen, founder of TankTerminalTraining, who can be contacted at arendvc@ tankterminaltraining.com. More information on the company’s activities can be found at www.tankterminaltraining.com.st
NEW ENERGIES • STORAGE TERMINALS WILL HAVE A VITAL ROLE TO PLAY IN ENABLING THE ENERGY TRANSITION. WORKING WITH OTHER PARTNERS, MANY ARE ALREADY MAKING GREAT STRIDES
THE PATH TOWARDS carbon-neutral and, ultimately, zero-carbon industrial and transport activity is not long: authorities around the world have responded to the UN’s call for sustainable development by establishing ambitious targets for the phasing out of traditional fuels. The first set of targets will be here by the end of the decade, so things will have to move fast.
The current global network of bulk liquids storage terminals relies for much of its business on hydrocarbons – crude oil and oil products, petrochemicals and gases derived from petroleum sources. The energy transition, therefore, presents a threat to their operations, as they form a pivotal part of a supply chain that has developed over decades to serve the needs of producers, traders, importers and consumers.
It is, though, becoming apparent that future energy supply chains will not be that different
from those industry is already accustomed to. Energy will flow around the world by ship and pipeline in much the same way it does now, except the products involved will be new. In fact, not even new – the coming decade is likely to see more ‘drop-in’ alternatives that mirror current fuels, only being produced from renewable sources, or ‘e-fuels’ that have the same chemical and physical properties. Products such as bio-LNG, or biodiesel with an incrementally larger component of FAME will be handled in the same terminals in much the same way as their current traditional brethren.
Further ahead, the process of decarbonisation will lead to a new generation of fuels. If the carbon is taken out of hydrocarbons, what is left is largely hydrogen – and green hydrogen looks most likely to be the core element of post-hydrocarbon fuel technology. While there have been some trials
involving the movement of green hydrogen by sea over long distances, it is difficult to scale up; with a boiling point of -253°C, liquefying hydrogen is expensive and shipboard technology will be costly.
A more workable solution will be to use a ‘carrier’ to move green hydrogen, either by converting it to ammonia, which is a relatively simple process, or by using a liquid organic hydrogen carrier (LOHC), a liquid product that can bind with the hydrogen and be moved to where that hydrogen can be released.
LOHCs – there are several candidates –behave much like other chemical products, something that storage terminals will be able to work with fairly easily, and many terminals already handle ammonia in bulk. And terminals that are currently handling the import of hydrocarbon products for use by industry and in the transport sector have another advantage: they are already in the right place to handle imports of new fuels, since the market will be the same.
Over the past couple of years, HCB has reported extensively on how terminal operators, the shipping industry and port authorities have been facing up to the decarbonisation process. That process is accelerating and several new projects and ideas have come forward in recent months. This article provides an overview of some that give an indication of the way thinking is heading and how, inevitably, large-scale projects are going to involve the participation of a wide range of interests.
As such, and especially in northern Europe, it is the port authorities that are often taking a leading role. The Port of Rotterdam, for example, is heading an initiative, backed by 18 companies, to study the possible establishment of a large-scale ammonia cracker; the project envisages using green ammonia imported into Rotterdam to produce 1m tonnes of hydrogen per year to help decarbonise regional industry and transport systems.
“Europe will need large amounts of hydrogen to reach its climate objectives and a significant share of this can be imported via the port of Rotterdam,” says Allard Castelein, CEO of the Port of Rotterdam Authority.
“Ammonia is one of the most efficient ways to transport hydrogen and by establishing one central ammonia cracker, we can save time, space and resources to enable the imports of a million tons of hydrogen per year.”
In addition to the Port of Rotterdam Authority, the initiative also includes the participation of Air Liquide, Aramco, BP, Essent/E.ON, ExxonMobil, Gasunie, GES, Linde, OCI, RWE, Shell, Sasol and Uniper, as well as terminal operators HES International, Koole Terminals, Vopak and VTTI. The pre-feasibility study will look into the technical, economic, environmental and safety requirements of a large cracking facility. First results of the study, to be carried out by Fluor, are expected in early 2023.
The Port of Rotterdam is also taking part in the LOHC for Hydrogen Transport from Scotland (LHyTS) project, which is seeking to develop a supply chain for LOHC in the form of methylcyclohexane (MCH) and prove that it can be successfully transport by sea at scale. The project is being led by the Net Zero Technology Centre and ERM.
“The main challenge in exporting hydrogen is choosing the best means of transportation,”
says Hayleigh Barnett, project manager at the Net Zero Technology Centre. “Early stage studies in this project have concluded that LOHC has several advantages over other carrier forms, such as ammonia, methanol or liquid hydrogen. Conducting an industrial scale trial is an exciting step in making LOHC export a reality.”
LHyTS will bring together the expertise of a range of participants, including Axens, Chiyoda, EnQuest, authorities in Scotland and, once again, terminal operator Koole Terminals. It fits with the Scottish government’s Hydrogen Policy Statement, which aims to deliver 5 GW of renewable and low-carbon hydrogen production by 2030 and 25 GW by 2050. The Port of Rotterdam will assist with its extensive export, import and storage infrastructure, established energy supply chain and pipeline connections to other industrial clusters in north-west Europe.
“Scotland is extremely fit for the production of green hydrogen, because of its abundance of wind and the demand at the continent nearby.
On top of that, the area is one of the heartlands of the oil and energy sector. That ecosystem of knowledge, infrastructure and companies will help to kickstart the hydrogen economy,” observes René van de Plas, international
director at the Port of Rotterdam Authority.
The Port of Amsterdam has also set up a project to develop an LOHC import facility, in collaboration with Hydrogenious and terminal operator Evos (HCB December 2022, page 14); this will use thermal oil benzyl toluene as the carrier, which can be handled in existing infrastructure at ambient temperature. The three partners are all founding members of the H2A platform, which focuses on the development of supply chains for green hydrogen imports through the port of Amsterdam.
“We are very excited about this next step,” says Ramon Ernst, managing director of Evos Amsterdam.”We have been building and supporting the H2A platform from the beginning, working with our partners on green hydrogen imports via the port of Amsterdam. We see a promising future in LOHC technology as it is intrinsically safe and fits with the port’s existing logistic infrastructure. We operate two large tank terminals that are perfectly suited for the storage and handling of LOHC.”
But it is not just in Europe where projects are moving forward. Vopak Singapore is exploring the expansion of its ammonia storage infrastructure with full import and export capabilities for low carbon power generation and bunker fuels at its Banyan terminal. The Banyan site, with an overall storage capacity close to 1.5m3, is an integrated oil, chemical and gas facility, located on Jurong Island, and already has one 10,000 m3 ammonia tank that supports the local petrochemical sector.
Vopak Singapore has completed a conceptual design for the expansion and is now carrying out a quantitative risk assessment. Rob Boudestijn, managing director of Vopak Terminals Singapore, says: “In line with Singapore’s ambition on net-zero carbon emissions, Vopak can leverage on our proven expertise of safely storing ammonia in Banyan. We have the right expertise and are at the right location to facilitate new supply chains for low carbon ammonia. We do see a strong potential in Singapore that supports the momentum of developing ammonia ready infrastructure ahead of other locations.”
In North America, midstream operator
Tallgrass Energy has signed a memorandum of understanding with Equinor to collaborate in the development of large-scale, lowcarbon hydrogen and ammonia projects in North America. The partners will assess the production and market potential for hydrogen and ammonia, and associated distribution infrastructure to help facilitate broad decarbonisation.
Recent policy developments further confirm the US commitment to decarbonised energy projects and reflect the important role that a full-scale hydrogen economy could play in providing communities with clean and reliable energy, Tallgass points out. Equinor and Tallgrass will work together towards advancing the integration of low- or zerocarbon hydrogen and ammonia into regional clean energy clusters, while taking a holistic approach to full value-chain emissions and resource conservation.
“The joint initiative with Tallgrass to launch plans for a large-scale clean ammonia value chain in the US is fully in line with the roadmap of making Equinor carbon-neutral by 2050. It builds on complementary experience in both companies and the common aspiration to take a leading role in the global energy transition,” says Grete Tveit, senior vicepresident for Low Carbon Solutions in Equinor.
Terminal operators also have to look to themselves to ensure they are meeting their own obligations to reduce CO2 emissions. With so many initiatives under development, it is not always easy to assess the overall impact, which is why Deloitte has developed its Decarbonisation Solution tool. Stolthaven Terminals is an early adopter, and is now using the AI-based tool to support and track its decarbonisation projects.
“Stolthaven Terminals has implemented a range of projects to help us achieve our ambition to become carbon neutral by 2040,” says Guy Bessant, president of Stolthaven Terminals. “This includes investments at our terminals to reduce energy consumption for steam production, installing condensate recovery systems, economisers on our boilers
that will reduce energy requirements by around 10 per cent, and partnering on projects that advance the green-energy transition. Deloitte’s tool gave us insights into the cumulative impact of these investments, both on emissions reduction as well as on current and future costs, of the different options to help us achieve our ambition.”
Deloitte’s Decarbonisation Solution helps organisations to manage their decarbonisation commitments by establishing emissions targets, meeting reporting and compliance requirements, optimising portfolios, evaluating reduction opportunities and tracking risks. It also allows all stakeholders to engage in the organisation’s decarbonisation journey on a single platform, enabling decarbonisation targets and claims to be substantiated.
“Going forward, the outputs from Deloitte’s tool can help Stolthaven Terminals in strategic decision-making based on the latest scientific information and methodologies from leading bodies and visualise the greatest climaterelated risks and opportunities facing its business,” explains Priti Hoffmann, partner sustainability at Deloitte. “Most importantly, the tool will help them understand where to focus their decarbonisation efforts.”
CONSTRUCTION • A NEW TERMINAL IS TAKING SHAPE THAT WILL SERVE THE BURGEONING PETROCHEMICAL SECTOR IN THE UAE AND ALSO ENABLE THE EXPORT OF GREEN FUELS AND GASES
“IT’S A BOLD move,” says Mike Cromack, commercial manager of Arabian Chemical Terminals Abu Dhabi (ACTAD), speaking about the decision to invest in a greenfield bulk liquids storage terminal in the deepwater Khalifa Port area. Scheduled to open for commercial operations in July this year, it will be Abu Dhabi’s first commercial storage and distribution terminal and will, in its first phase, offer 100,000 m3 of tank capacity in 40 tanks.
Sited next to the Khalifa Economic Zone Abu Dhabi (KEZAD), mid-way between the cities of Abu Dhabi and Dubai and away from residential and commercial areas, ACTAD was provided with a blank canvas where it could design a facility to meet the current and future needs of the region’s industries. It also has an unrestricted licence, allowing it to handle all types of product.
“It’s new – but we’re not novices,” Cromack says. While it is a very small team at present,
it has “a wealth of experience,” he adds, both in the logistics sector and the chemical industry. By the time the terminal opens in July, it will employ around 60 people, a significant number of whom will be locals –an important factor actively promoted through the emirate’s In Country Value (ICV) certification programme, which recognises and rewards business that conduct activities with locally registered entities and create jobs for local people.
Work started on phase 1 of ACTAD in May 2021, with Bilfinger Tebodin Middle East as project management consultant and local firm Amistad as the engineering, procurement, construction and commissioning partner. Phase 1 covers a 50,000-m2 plot and has a private berth of 250 metres alongside with a 16-metre draft, as well as smaller tender/ bunkering berths.
The storage tanks are going up fast in the four bunded areas, each of which has ten 2,500-m3 tanks. One has stainless steel tanks, one has insulated and heated stainless steel tanks, a third has carbon steel tanks and the last has carbon steel tanks with internal floating roofs and enhanced firefighting system. This last is rated Class 1, with all others Class 3.
In designing the terminal, ACTAD listened to its potential customers and went beyond the normal to eliminate the risk of product contamination. Each of the 40 tanks comprises its own ecosystem, with dedicated pipes and pumps all the way from the berth to the tank and from the tank to the truck loading gantry. The hose tower at the berth has 40 dedicated lines, so each of the 40 tanks is individually connected to a vessel calling at the berth, with no common parts.. The design also allows the site to load tank containers, intermediate bulk containers (IBCs) and drums.
In addition, ACTAD will offer a comprehensive range of marine services, including brokerage, slop reception and disposal, degassing and stevedoring; an independent laboratory for testing, inspection and certification will be provided on-site in a unit operated by Bureau Veritas.
All these services and capabilities will serve industrial demand for the import and export of
liquids and gases, as well as strategic or hub storage. It is expected to handle a wide range of basic and specialty chemicals and hydrocarbons such as base oils, vegoils and, potentially, liquid organic hydrogen carriers (LOHCs).
That is, though, not the end of it. A second phase of construction is already being prepared, which will add a further 150,000 m2 of space surrounding the first phase. This will allow ACTAD to provide more extensive capacity to handle gases as well as ammonia and hydrogen, and is already attracting a great deal of interest from industrial companies
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setting up in KEZAD. Multiple projects are under appraisal, Cromack reports, and based on the needs of tenants of KEZAD it is likely that more complex products will be handled.
The UAE is committed to green electricity generation, having plenty of potential for solar power, and Cromack anticipates establishing the ability to handle truly green and blue ammonia exports. He is currently working on attracting business for both phases of development and says that some contracts are already in place. After two years of concentrated effort to get ACTAD to commissioning, he is, he says, “eager to get going”. act-uae.com
MERGER • BRINGING TOGETHER THE KOOLE AND ALKION TERMINAL NETWORKS WILL CREATE A SUBSTANTIAL WEB OF EUROPEAN FACILITIES, WITH A BUSINESS FOCUS ON INNOVATION
KOOLE TERMINALS HAS completed the acquisition of Alkion Terminals, creating a 20-strong network of bulk liquids storage terminals in seven countries, with some 900 employees and a total capacity of 5.3m3 of storage capacity. The merged companies will continue to operate under their own names.
“With this acquisition, we are joining forces,” John Kraakman, CEO of Koole Terminals, says. “Alkion and Koole are highly complementary, and our joint expertise now gives us the knowledge and skills to further develop and innovate our services in the storage market. Moreover, greater geographic reach creates new opportunities for our multi-terminal network customers. We can now work on a larger scale with a larger portfolio of products.”
In particular, Koole says, the new organisation aims to become the European market leader in innovative and integrated services for storage, processing and logistics. Furthermore, as Kraakman adds, “The acquisition of Alkion not only strengthens our position in the European market, but it also creates opportunities for all employees to grow personally and professionally.”
The acquisition also marks a milestone in both companies’ growth strategies. “It’s a new starting point that offers opportunities for a successful and sustainable future for all of us, and we are creating that future together, in which service to our customers is maintained to the highest possible standards for both quality and safety. That is a prerequisite,” Kraakman stresses.
Merging the knowledge and expertise in both companies is in line with their joint sustainability strategy, which is to be at the forefront of the transition to more sustainable products. The synergy created from this combination will enhance the acceleration of this process and the capacity to provide integrated supply chain solutions for climate-friendly fuels, thus facilitating the transition to a low-carbon future.
Both companies have in recent years focused very much on projects that enhance sustainability in the energy supply chains and in renewable energies in particular. Koole, for example, has been working with Marvesa Supply Chain Services on the storage and handling of oils and fats for biofuels, and also with Horisont Energi on the development of supply chain infrastructure for ammonia and carbon dioxide. Alkion has invested heavily in the provision of solar power at its Mediterranean facilities and in July 2021 refinanced its debt using a sustainabilitylinked term loans to finance its growth.
Koole is the larger and older of the two firms, having been established some 75 years ago, but has expanded over the past decade through selective acquisitions and now has 11 terminals in the Netherlands, Poland and the UK. Alkion is much younger, having been established in 2016 with investment from Coloured Finches, a dedicated downstream manager, and InfraVia. Since then, it has acquired nine terminals in five countries in Europe, with a focus on biofuels and chemicals, and has a total storage capacity of some 1.2m m3. “Over the past six years, the business has shown strong resilience as well as outstanding performance,” says InfraVia. “In addition, the company enjoys a very healthy pipeline of development projects to expand the range of customers services fully integrated in the supply chain of its customers.”
colouredfinches.com koole.com www.alkion.com
THE USE OF unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) – or ‘drones’ in common parlance – is not exactly new in the world of bulk liquids storage terminals, in applications such as safety inspections, especially in an emergency situation. But the technology is advancing rapidly and, with it, new opportunities are opening up, as Koole Terminals is hoping to investigate in a new pilot project at its Rotterdam terminal.
Koole Terminals began a pilot with the autonomous drone this past October but the official go-ahead was given in March 2022 when the company received a permit for autonomous flying at Koole Tankstorage Botlek. “On April 21, we made the first test flight. The system is now installed, and since
mid-November the drone has been making its first autonomous flights,” says Marc Hordijk, manager of process excellence and innovation at Koole.
During the pilot project, scheduled to last until September 2023, both drone and its human controller remain active; during this phase the project will test that everything works properly and how long it takes for reports to be received. This phase will also determine the best camera angles and flight altitude. “The drone now flies at between 35 and 50 metres in altitude,” Hordijk says. “That is the safest level of horizontal movement of autonomous drones, because at that height there are no obstacles, nor is there risk of the presence of other air traffic.”
The autonomous drone, a drone-in-a-box system from Percepto, has its own housing from which the high-tech machine makes its flights. In this cylindrical, waterproof structure, the drone charges up, exchanges images with the ‘control room’ and flies its rounds from there. Everything is wireless and fully automatic, including opening and closing the housing. There are no humans involved. The operation of the drone relies on Falcker software, and this system integrator provides
technical support and joins Koole in constantly refining the drone’s functionality.
The primary purpose of this drone pilot is to recognise leaks of liquid products from Koole’s terminal. The software compares images, making the drone smarter and smarter, a cutting-edge feat of artificial intelligence. “We are pushing the limits of what is possible with the drone,” Hordijk says. “First, in recognising those spills. Because a puddle can also be rainwater. Can we go so far as to recognise even drops as spills?
Second, until when is it effective to fly the drone? Does it still do its job well in less-thanperfect weather conditions? The weather in the port of Rotterdam is changeable, so within this project we are finding out what the operational deployability is, within the predetermined safety margins.”
The drone flies whenever a ship docks and when a product is being pumped. This information is fully integrated into the terminal’s route-control system. Supported by this control system, the drone flies preset routes every four hours. “The images collected by the drone are visible live in flight in the control room, a kind of control tower. These are still lower-resolution images. The very highest resolution images come in after the drone lands and exchanges them with us from its box,” Hordijk explains.
“One of the challenges is that this advanced technology is ahead of current laws and regulations,” he adds. “We have to deal with the airspace of Rotterdam The Hague Airport, but also with requirements from the Port of Rotterdam. These each have their own rules, so we are working hard with Falcker to navigate them and be ahead of the curve with that too.”
According to Hordijk, there are more application possibilities for the drone in the near future: “We see possibilities in the field for measuring emissions, wall thicknesses and corrosion, for example. But the drone can also play an important role in security and emergency situations.” falcker.com koole.com percepto.co
AMMONIA • HAMBURG IS LEADING THE DEVELOPMENT OF A GREEN ENERGY IMPORT AND DISTRIBUTION INFRASTRUCTURE FOR GERMANY, WORKING TOGETHER WITH AIR PRODUCTS AND OILTANKING
AIR PRODUCTS AND Mabanaft have announced a plan to build Germany’s first large-scale green energy import terminal in the port of Hamburg. Located at the existing bulk liquids terminal operated by Mabanaft subsidiary Oiltanking Deutschland, the planned facility will be designed to import green ammonia produced at large-scale green hydrogen plants operated by Air Products and its partners around the world, convert it back into hydrogen at the Air Products plant in Hamburg, and distribute it to buyers in the port region and across northern Germany.
Air Products and Mabanaft says they are “committed to expediting the development of this significant investment in a green import facility for Germany” and are targeting initial hydrogen output by 2026.
“Together with Mabanaft, we look forward to further progressing our plans of importing
needed renewable energy into Germany through our planned facility,” says Air Products’ chairman, president and CEO Seifi Ghasemi. “As the world’s largest producer of hydrogen, Air Products is in an excellent position to meet demand, having committed billions of dollars to produce renewable energy at locations around the world. Air Products fully appreciates the support and visionary leadership of the German government,” which was demonstrated by the presence of Robert Habeck, Germany’s federal minister for economic affairs and climate action, as well as Dr Peter Tschentscher, first mayor of Hamburg, at the formal announcement of the project on 17 November.
Dr Tschentscher stressed Hamburg’s potential for the new terminal, saying: “Hamburg offers excellent conditions for the
import, distribution and use of green hydrogen. It is already clear today that the demand for hydrogen in Germany far exceeds the domestic production capacities. As a traditional trading city, we maintain good relations all over the world, and the interest of our international partners in the development of a green hydrogen economy is great. Hamburg aims to become a leading hydrogen location in Europe. We want to help ensure energy security in Germany and advance the decarbonisation of industry and the economy.”
For Oiltanking, the project will entail some work at its Hamburg terminal. “We are delighted to work together with Air Products on the development of this terminal. As a result, we will make significant investments and deploy our energy infrastructure capabilities and expertise to accelerate the energy transition in Hamburg as the key import gateway for Germany,” says Volker Ebeling, senior vice-president New Energy, Chemicals & Gas at Mabanaft.
The announcement of the project followed on from the signing of a memorandum of understanding by Air Products and the Hamburg Port Authority in February 2022, in which both parties committed themselves to accelerating the production, supply chain and consumption of renewable hydrogen in northern Germany.
“After completing the first important milestone by signing an MoU in February 2022 with Air Products, we are happy that we take now the next important step toward building a hydrogen value chain in cooperation with our competent partners, Air Products and Mabanaft, the central element of which will be the import of green ammonia for conversion to green hydrogen,” says Jens Meier, CEO of Hamburg Port Authority. “Hamburg will be one of the first ports worldwide to offer clean hydrogen import infrastructure. This import will drive the decarbonation for several applications in the harbour, as well as applications in shipping.”
www.hafen-hamburg.de
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Oiltanking is to sell its interest in Indian Oiltanking Ltd (IOT), a joint venture with Indian Oil Corp (IOC), subject to customary approvals. IOT operates six terminals in India with a combined storage capacity of some 2m m3. The sale to Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Ltd (APSEZ) is part of Oiltanking’s strategic review and its focus on the optimisation of its asset portfolio.
“Since the establishment of IOT in August 1996, the joint venture with IOC has developed into a strong partnership that has grown significantly and achieved many great successes,” says Matti Lievonen, Oiltanking’s CEO. “We are confident that this success story will continue with APSEZ and strongly believe that APSEZ will help to grow the business further at a time when energy demand in India continues to be on the rise. We would like to thank our customers for their trust over the years and express our sincere gratitude to all
Indian Oiltanking employees. We wish them all the best for the future.”
Oiltanking has also agreed to sell its 91.1 per cent stake in Oiltanking Bulgaria to AstraFinance; the company operates a 25,860-m3 liquids storage terminal in Varna, with the Port of Varna holding a minority share. AstraFinance is a subsidiary of the Bulmarket Group, a leading regional manufacturer of biodiesel and one of the largest private transport companies in the Balkans. www.oiltanking.com
International-Matex Tank Terminals (IMTT) has closed the sale of its two bulk liquids terminals in Savannah, Georgia to Colonial Group in a cash transaction. The terminals are located on the Savannah River and have a combined storage capacity of some 2m bbl (320,000 m3), with truck, rail and deep-draught marine access.
“The compelling offer from a local buyer with strong market connections will support our continued strategy to balance our legacy petroleum assets with new investments in energy transition projects,” says Carlin Conner, chairman and CEO of IMTT. “We believe this transaction underscores the value of the liquid storage space. I want to thank our employees for helping to establish these terminals as premier locations in the Savannah market.“ www.imtt.com
Exolum has agreed to sell its 40 per cent stake in OQL to its joint-venture partner, OQ. The two firms established OQL in 2014 to build and operate the Muscat-Sohar pipeline and the 170,000-m3 Al Jifnain oil terminal in Oman; the company now supplies some 70 per cent of Oman’s fuel demand.
Exolum was involved in the design and construction of the project and has supervised operations and maintenance since it was commissioned in 2017; its contribution to the project is now deemed complete. Funds from the divestment will be put towards Exolum’s investment plan for growth in diversification projects. exolum.com
Vopak has reported third quarter revenues of €349.6m, up from €309.5m a year earlier. Group EBITDA, excluding exceptional items, improved by 7.6 per cent to €226.9m, though net profit slipped slightly to €77.7m.
“Our strong third quarter performance demonstrates that our well diversified infrastructure portfolio uniquely positions Vopak to serve our customers amidst highly uncertain times,” says CEO Dick Richelle. “The deployment of growth capex towards our strategic priorities is going well, with growth in
industrial and gas terminals and acceleration towards new energies. Our improved financial performance and solid strategy execution allows us to update our outlook for FY 2022, by increasing our expectation for EBITDA and proportional operating cash return.”
During the quarter Vopak committed to a refurbishment of its Eurotank chemical terminal in Antwerp, where it will spend some €70m to rebuild 41,000 m3 of tankage and strengthen its service offering for chemical imports. Completion of the project is slated for end-2024. The company is also planning to repurpose 22 oil tanks at its Los Angeles terminal, at a cost of some €30m, to handle sustainable aviation fuel and renewable diesel, with the new 148,000 m3 of capacity due onstream in the middle of 2023. In China, Vopak and its 50/50 partner are due to start construction of an additional 110,000 m3 of capacity at the Caojing terminal to serve a long-term industrial contract. www.vopak.com
Enterprise Products Partners has reported third-quarter operating income of $1.71bn,
compared to $1.51bn last year, with adjusted EBITDA rising from $2.02bn to $2.26bn.
“Enterprise reported strong financial results for the third quarter of 2022,” says AJ ‘Jim’ Teague, co-CEO of Enterprise’s general partner. “Our third quarter performance was very similar to our record second quarter of 2022. Enterprise reported a $232m increase in gross operating margin for the third quarter of 2022 compared to the third quarter of last year. These results were primarily driven by contributions from the partnership’s Midland Basin natural gas gathering and processing business (acquired in February 2022) and higher gross operating margin from our natural gas processing, octane enhancement and natural gas pipeline businesses.”
The operating margin of the Enterprise Hydrocarbons Terminal fell by $18m compared to last year as a result of lower loading fees, despite an increase in LPG export volumes. The Morgan’s Point ethane export terminal in Texas enjoyed a $16m increase in gross operating margin, with higher average loading fees and a significant increase in export volumes.
Enterprise and Navigator Holdings have now announced plans to expand ethylene export capacity at the Morgan’s Point terminal.
Construction work is due to begin in the first quarter of 2023 and be completed in 2024, adding “significant” refrigeration capacity and generating increased revenues from higher throughput capacity.
Navigator notes that throughput in the third quarter was just under 190,000 tonnes, well down on the first two quarters of the year, partly in line with seasonal trends and partly as a result of economic slowdown in Europe and ongoing Covid-related restrictions in Asia. However, volumes increased significantly in October and cargoes are now heading for the Far East again.
enterpriseproducts.com
Kinder Morgan has reported net income of $576m for the third quarter, up from $495m a year ago, on the back of strong demand for its oil and gas infrastructure assets. “As we continue to witness the tragic consequences of the war in Ukraine, including global economic turbulence and volatility, our company and the US energy sector as a whole can take some measure of pride in continuing to provide both our citizens and those around the world with natural gas, refined products and crude oil,” says executive chairman Richard D Kinder.
“There is simply no question that the assets we operate and the services we provide will be needed for a long time to come. Similarly, it is indisputable that a lengthy transition to greater deployment of low carbon energy sources is underway - and we are responding to that,” adds CEO Steve Kean. “As we look ahead, roughly 80 per cent of our project backlog is in lower-carbon energy services, including natural gas, renewable natural gas, renewable diesel and feedstocks associated with renewable diesel and sustainable aviation fuel.”
www.kindermorgan.com
DEPOTS • DESIGNED BY THE EUROPEAN CHEMICAL INDUSTRY, SQAS IS NOW FINDING A HOME IN OTHER TERRITORIES, AS ITS BENEFITS IN CATALYSING SAFETY IMPROVEMENTS IS RECOGNISED
THE SAFETY & QUALITY Assessment for Sustainability (SQAS) was developed by the European Chemical Industry Council (Cefic) as a way to benchmark safety and quality performance among its logistics service providers (LSPs), in line with the Responsible Care initiative. But it is not just European LSPs that are recognising its benefits. Kanoo Tank Services (Sahreej), Saudi Arabia’s leading tank container service provider, found that, when it embarked on its journey to SQAS, the system provided not only guidance but also a mindset that prompted an ongoing question for improvement and expansion of its services, incorporating safety, sustainability and digitalisation.
Sahreej, a joint venture between Stolt Tank Containers, the world’s largest tank container operator, and local partner YBA Kanoo, operates three terminals in Saudi Arabia, in Jubail, Dammam and Jeddah, serving the kingdom’s massive chemical sector. General manager Mike Tunstall explains some of the
changes that have been brought about by SQAS: “As with any certification audit, passing the assessment and certification is the first step into the journey of excellence. Sahreej maintains the implementation of all SQAS requirements and is ready for any pop-up audit all year long.”
When it started on the road to SQAS, Sahreej was already certified to ISO 9001:2015 but, once it started to review and implement the SQAS requirements, it quickly became evident to HSE manager Faris Al-Shali that certification across a broader range would help bring sustainable growth and wellbeing to the company, its staff and its customers. To that end, Sahreej implemented and gained certification to the ISO 45001:2018 health and safety management standard and the ISO 14001:2015 environmental management standard; both certifications have proven their worth, Tunstall says, and Sahreej is now moving towards certification to the ISO 22301:2019 (business continuity management)
As might be expected as a joint venture of two highly respected companies, Sahreej has safety (and wellbeing) firmly at the top of its agenda. It operates within the Intelex web-based platform that identifies skills and safety requirements within each skill set, with monthly training designed specifically according to job function. This training is conducted by each depot controller, who are all Train-the-Trainer qualified, though other in-house and third-party training resources are also applied as needed. A high priority is given to Working at Height and Confined Space safety training and Sahreej also uses the International Tank Container Organisation’s (ITCO) tank container e-learning modules to give new and existing staff a better understanding of tank containers.
Sahreej operates full compliance via SLR systems, platforms and tank rotators, and individual gas readers within all areas. As part of the Intelex system Sahreej also operates near-miss reporting at each depot and this information is used to define the weekly ‘toolbox’ training sessions. Sahreej also certifies its special teams on hazardous materials, aiming to assure its chemical industry customers that their products are
handled safely, whether on Sahreej premises or during emergency response services, which are offered to all its customers.
Tank container cleaning is a heavy user of water and a substantial producer of waste. To combat this, Sahreej has been working hard to introduce efficiencies into the cleaning process for each individual cargo. Before accepting a cargo Sahreej carries out a risk analysis and identifies the most efficient cleaning technique for each cargo; this is an ongoing process with technical manager Sarfaraz Salini continually looking to refine cleaning techniques to further increase efficiency, reduce water requirements and waste generation and avoid the need for additional cleaning. Sahreej also operates wastewater treatment plants that enable it to use recycled water on the first cycle. Potable water is used for all subsequent cycles. These initiatives have generated a reduction in water consumption of 37 per cent and cut the production of waste by around onequarter. “In a very competitive market these savings have effectively been passed on to the customer, with Sahreej maintaining its tariff
rating over an eight-year period,” Tunstall (below) says. “Sahreej is currently also looking at ways to reduce its carbon footprint across all areas of its operations.”
The biggest change brought about by SQAS is, Tunstall believes, the use of behaviour-based safety (BBS) techniques, something that was not part of Sahreej’s training beforehand. Now, though, it plays a key role in the company’s continuous improvement programme. Behaviour-based safety assesses the culture of the organisation by training supervisory employees on observing the key factors contributing into unsafe behaviour. Measurement and analysis of observations are brought together in Sahreej’s annual management review meeting where an actionable communication and coaching plan is established.
“Sahreej’s one-to-one training programme enhances the knowledge of task-specific safety procedures, operating alongside its efficiency evaluation programme that assesses the practical skills of each task performer, ensuring the highest quality standards are met and providing Sahreej
customers with best quality services without compromising its staff safety,” Tunstall explains. Those BBS programmes go beyond its own staff, giving it the capability to promote a positive change within its suppliers by rewarding those with the most safety-oriented procedures.
Sahreej is keenly aware of the problems that would be posed for the tank container industry should the planned restrictions on PFAS chemicals by the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) and US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), as well as other similar authorities elsewhere, go ahead. The issue has been raised by ITCO as seals and gaskets that are vital to the safe transport of hazardous chemicals in tank containers could be outlawed. Tunstall says Sahreej is eager to assist seal and gasket manufacturers and tank operators with trials to investigate the viability of alternative products, or the recycling and/or extended use of existing PFAS seals and gaskets.
In terms of site safety, working at height has now been eliminated at Sahreej facilities but it would like to find a solution to confined space working. “This is a dream today,” Tunstall says, “but we would like to find a way to automate internal tank inspection that could be integrated with AI.”
On a broader level, Sahreej is also looking at the potential to increase the level of digitalisation within its operations and in its interactions with its customers and suppliers. It is, Tunstall adds, keeping a closer eye on the ever-changing transport regulations, having appointed a certified safety adviser (DGSA) to monitor the updated requirements of ADR and the International Maritime Dangerous Goods (IMDG) Code.
Overall, Tunstall concludes, SQAS has raised standards at Sahreej, making the company not only safer and more sustainable but also more efficient, leading it to look more closely at how it will operate in the future.
www.sahreej.com
TERMINAL • RISING DEMAND HAS PROMPTED BERTSCHI TO EXPAND ITS RAIL TERMINAL IN TERNEUZEN. ALONG WITH THAT ARE SOME IMPROVEMENTS IN EFFICIENCY AND SUSTAINABILITY
“IN THE PAST few years, even during the pandemic, we noticed a growing demand for storage facilities for containers at our Terneuzen terminal,” reports Barry Mol, managing director of Bertschi Netherlands. In response, the company has now completed a significant expansion of capacity at the rail terminal in ValuePark Terneuzen, expanding its footprint from 12,000 m2 to 22,000 m2 and adding some 225 metres of additional track to allow longer trains to call at the facility.
The Terneuzen terminal provides an important link for the local petrochemical industry, which is dominated by Dow Chemical’s plant; tank containers are loaded onto trains at the ValuePark terminal, with five trains heading each week for Antwerp, from where the tanks are distributed to destinations across Europe. “Some 75 per cent of our
containers and tank containers are transported by rail, 15 per cent by barge/ shortsea shipping and only 10 per cent by truck,” says Jan Arnet, CEO of Bertschi Group. “These figures are approximately the same for our Terneuzen operations.”
The expansion of the Bertschi rail terminal in Terneuzen will allow for more throughput and more cargo to be moved off the roads. Bertschi says its intermodal logistics chain saves some 70 per cent of CO2 emissions when compared with road-only transport.
At ValuePark Terneuzen, Bertschi was reaching maximum capacity at peak periods, making it clear that the expansion was necessary. “The more customers that make use of our train to Antwerp, the more price-efficient it will be compared with trucking. And less truck milage is better for
the environment, too,” says Mol. “Larger storage facilities and longer trains are necessary to support our ambition to become what we call a multi-colour terminal.”
“Dow Terneuzen is Dow’s second largest manufacturing location in the world. Here, we are the central point for supporting our services in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and India,” says Peter van Egerschot, senior logistics director for Dow Europe. The Value Park, which is located on the west side of Dow Terneuzen, has direct connections to the rail and road networks, and international waterways. “Before this expansion, Dow already benefited from Bertschi’s rail terminal at the ValuePark for over a decade. We look forward to not only increase intermodal services, but also to accelerate supply chain efficiency at our site through innovative and sustainable concepts.”
The size of the Bertschi terminal means that companies can use it for temporary storage, giving chemical companies the option to have product on stock outside their own storage space, which can help with production planning and dealing with supply chain uncertainties. Bertschi has also put in use its own yard trucks, which reduces the waiting time for visiting drivers to 20 minutes. “Although it is our ambition to reduce the amount of road transport, we still receive trucks at our terminal and we have arranged a situation in which the waiting time for a truck driver is brought back to a minimum,” says Mol. These yard trucking facilities have also been expanded with the enlargement of the terminal.
Similarly, the extension of the rail track has been accompanied by a switch to enable the locomotive to move from one end of the train to the other. “It will then no longer be necessary for the train to leave our terminal in reverse to the customer’s complex to change the position of the locomotive. This saves a lot of time and unnecessary manoeuvring,” Mol adds. www.bertschi.com
Rhenus India has established itself as an expert in chemical logistics, with a customer base comprising international chemical companies. Covestro is also putting its faith in the tailor-made solutions and flexible working methods at the Bhiwani site, as Anand Srinivasan, managing director of Covestro India, explains: “We’ve grown thanks to and together with Rhenus. Rhenus clearly focuses on HSE, adopts a process-oriented approach to its work and precisely understands the requirements of our customers. As a long-standing customer, we’d like to thank Rhenus for its work in the past and we’re looking forward to an even closer partnership in future.”
India has opened a modern multi-user facility in Bhiwandi, which at some 28,000 m2 of warehousing space is one of the largest such sites in the Mumbai area. The opening will, Rhenus says, enable the company “to play an even greater role as one of the most important providers of integrated logistics services in the country”.
The new site is focusing particularly on the storage of chemical and petrochemical products and a large part of its space has already been booked by Covestro.
“Thanks to having our state-of-the-art warehouse at the heart of the logistics centre of Mumbai, we’re catering for the increasing need for individual warehouse solutions for
our customers in India and we’re therefore boosting our own growth too,” says Vivek Arya, managing director of Rhenus India. “Rhenus not only provides innovative hardware, but offers other benefits to its customers: not least, our specially trained, experienced team makes us the preferred logistics partner locally.”
The Bhiwandi site is equipped with a modern warehouse management system, fully equipped loading and unloading docks and conveyor technology to get goods in and out quickly and efficiently. The warehouse also complies with the latest global standards for health, safety and the environment, including solar panels and rainwater recycling
It is no coincidence that both Rhenus and Covestro are headquartered in Germany; speaking at the opening ceremony for the new warehouse, the German General Consul, Achim Fabig, said: “Indo-German bilateral trade is on the rise. Today, more than 1,800 German companies have business relations with India. I would like to congratulate the Rhenus Group for being a great trade partner for more than six decades in India. By opening two new multi-user warehouses – one in Delhi NCR a couple of months ago and now this one in Mumbai – Rhenus has taken an important step in enhancing their logistics footprint in India.”
The Bhawani warehouse facility is favourably located near to the financial and business hub of Mumbai in the west of India, with easy international links to and from the Middle East and further afield. And, while it is especially attractive to the chemical industry, its broad range of warehouse space and services meets the high standards expected by other sectors, including FMCG and retail distributors.
Following the opening, Rhenus Warehousing Solutions India now has 31 sites in the country and a total warehouse space of more than 230,000 m2 www.rhenus.group
INDIA • RAPID GROWTH IN DEMAND FOR LOGISTICS CAPACITY HAS ENCOURAGED RHENUS TO INVEST IN A NEW WAREHOUSE IN MUMBAI, PRIMARILY TO SERVE THE LOCAL PETROCHEMICAL SECTOR
SUSTAINABILITY • EVERYONE HAS A ROLE TO PLAY IN REDUCING EMISSIONS AND, FOR A LOGISTICS COMPANY SUCH AS DACHSER, THAT INCLUDES ITS DRIVERS. NEW TRAINING HAS BEEN INTRODUCED
AS THE TRANSPORT sector edges its way towards net-zero emissions, emissions-free vehicles such as battery-electric and hydrogen fuel cell trucks will play a crucial role. But reductions in CO2 emissions can also be achieved for diesel trucks in use today. One way to do this is to adopt an appropriate driving style.
To achieve the potential emissions savings, Dachser piloted a training programme at three of its branches in the second half of 2022 with 54 professional and trainee truck drivers who are directly employed at the company. Having first evaluated telematics data from day-to-day operations to provide a baseline, a specially trained fleet manager and another driver instructor spent four weeks accompanying the drivers on their regular work, training them in climate-friendly driving techniques.
Overall, the professional drivers in the pilot project reduced their CO2 emissions by an
average of 14 per cent; for a truck driving 120,000 km per year, that equates to a CO2 emissions saving of some 9.5 tonnes.
“As we strive to achieve our climate targets, you cannot underestimate the role played by the professional truck drivers who work for Dachser - either directly or on behalf of our service partners,” says Hendrik Jansen, managing director of Dachser Service und Ausbildungs. “Nothing works without them. And by driving in a climate-conscious manner, they can make a significant contribution to reducing emissions on the road.”
Dachser is now moving forward with the training programme, planning first to train all 250 professional drivers and the trainees it employs directly by the end of 2023; it will also offer the training concept to its subcontractors. “The drivers, some of whom have been driving professionally for many years,
take what they’ve learned and incorporate it into their driving style,” says Roland Zitzmann of Dachser Service und Ausbildungs, who accompanied drivers in the pilot phase. “Feedback on the training has been positive across the board.”
The encouragement of a climate-friendly driving style fits with Dachser’s broader climate strategy, which is leveraging energy and process efficiency as well as research and innovation to make supply chains sustainable. One example of that is Dachser’s recent acquisition of kasasi GmbH, a software developer specialising in systems to optimise and bring transparency to transport processes for road, rail and waterways. In addition, the driving style initiative fits with Dachser’s social commitment, which extends beyond the company’s boundaries and core business.
Dachser is taking several specific actions, including building up a modern fleet of vehicles with the latest generation of diesel engines and testing alternative power trains and fuels, as well as adopting a driving style that achieves climate-friendliness through energy efficiency. The training will also help save fuel, which takes on even greater importance in light of the current situation and how fuel prices are developing. “We’re doing everything we can to bring out the best in improvement potential for everyone,” Jansen says. www.dachser.com
Den Hartogh and Shell Chemicals have opened a new logistics service centre (LSC) at the Shell Energy & Chemical Park in Rotterdam. The new drop-and-swap facility, the result of close collaboration between the two companies, is described as a “major step forward in sustainability, efficiency and cooperation”.
The design of the new site aims to reduce the driving distance on site, cutting carbon emissions, improve efficiency by cutting waiting times for drivers, and optimise and digitise logistics processes on site to free up loading capacity.
“Improved efficiency and sustainability go hand in hand in this project,” says Ruud Welleman, director of logistics service centres at Den Hartogh. “Reducing our carbon footprint, a higher customer satisfaction and improved facilities for our drivers are what makes this a great cooperation. During the design and building phase we operated as true
partners. With this new LSC we are ready for the next years and looking forward to putting it into full operation. It is an exciting day for both Shell and Den Hartogh.”
Den Hartogh says it will expand the deployment of its LSC concept together with other service providers, as part of its commitment to collaborate in a sustainable and efficient way, expressed in its slogan ‘We’re better together’ in the chemical industry. www.denhartogh.com
Boasso Global has acquired Spanish tank container haulage specialist Transportes Paz Ciria (TPC), based in Parets del Vallès, Catalonia. The company delivers tank containers throughout Spain and other EU markets, with a particular expertise in ADR cargoes, pressurised gases and isocyanates.
“We are very excited about the acquisition of TPC as it will supplement our Parets depot with critical transportation services for our customers,” says Joe Troy, chairman/CEO of
Boasso Global. TPC’s former owners, Emilio Paz Ciria and Natividad (‘Nati’) Bergillos Ariza, will stay with the firm to help integrate TPC’s extensive transport services with Boasso’s depot services. “With the help of Emilio and Nati, this acquisition will expand our international footprint of full-service depot operations,” Troy adds. www.boassoglobal.com
Kombiverkehr has kicked off a digitalisation project that aims to improve the efficiency of combined transport by speeding up the allocation of intermodal transport units to rail freight wagons. The project, Artificial Intelligence and Discrete Loading Optimization Models to Increase Capacity Utilization in Combined Transport (KIBA), uses methods borrowed from AI in conjunction with dedicated computation processes.
At present, combined transport across Europe uses a wide variety of transport unit types and rail freight wagons. The major challenge is to optimise the allocation of transport units to rail freight wagons on a generally valid basis and as a function of different target sizes. The fixed technical characteristics of all kinds of semitrailers, containers, swap bodies and rail freight wagons play an important part in this process, as do variable parameters such as the actual weight and nature of payloads, as well as freight timetables.
The aim of the project is for every inquiry about the loading of a transport unit to be met as quickly as possible by a proposal that optimises the positioning of the transport unit on the set of wagons deployed – and that at a time even before all information is available about what other transport units are yet to arrive at the shipping terminal for the same departure/destination parameters.
Kombiverkehr is working on the three-year project with a range of partners, including terminal operator DUSS, VTG Rail Europe, Inform GmbH, KombiConsult and the Technical University of Darmstadt. Germany’s Federal Ministry for Digital and Transport is supporting the project with €2.34m as part of its AI in Mobility innovation initiative.
www.kombiverkehr.de www.vtg.com
Karl Schmidt has announced a major phase of expansion to meet growing demand. Storage capacity at its sites within Germany as well as international locations, both for bulk material and packaged goods, is almost fully utilised. The company plans to add 40 new silos at both its Duisburg and Leipzig sites, and four additional silos at Ludwigshafen.
Meanwhile, it will build a new bulk goods centre at Al Jubail in Saudi Arabia, with an initial area of 5,000 m2 of storage space, with options for bulk goods storage and handling. Detailed planning is underway and Karl Schmidt will make further announcements on the likely date of completion of each of the projects. www.schmidt-heilbronn.de
GATX Rail Europe has delivered a series of newly built 7182 pressure tank cars to Vestolit, a specialist in PVC production. The tanks, built at the Inveho FWN workshop in Germany, will be used to transport vinyl chlorides.
“The 7182 pressure gas car is the latest example that GATX Rail Europe is a reliable railcar provider for customised tank cars,” says Roman Grünhagen, pressure gas car expert at GATX. “Lighter, made from P460/630 grade steel, and equipped with a self-sufficient telematics system, it is the right choice for many customers in the chemical
industry. The innovative features include improved railcar safety, durability, and efficiency while simultaneously meeting all certification criteria.”
www.gatx.eu
Van Moer Logistics has started construction of its new 7,500-m2 filling plant at its current logistics site in Zwijndrecht, Belgium. Planned to open in April 2023, the plant will have fully automated filling lines with an annual capacity of some 100,000 tonnes, to decant product from tank containers to drums and IBCs. Van Moer’s Zwijndrecht facility already handles the cleaning, filling, repair and storage of tank containers and the new unit will create a complete one-stop-shop infrastructure.
Ineos Oxide is already onboard with the project, with business integration manager Kurt de Bruyn saying: “This project capitalises on the strengths of the port of Antwerp: the welldeveloped expertise of logistics service providers on the one hand, and the entrenched cluster of global players in chemistry and life science on the other. The integration of these strengths allows companies such as Ineos to
focus on its core tasks and compete with global markets.”
vanmoer.com
Ineos Inovyn is to put a new hydrogen-powered truck into service in France next year, which it says will be the first such vehicle to be used to transport PVC in Europe. Deliveries are scheduled to begin at the end of the first quarter, carrying product from the Ineos Inovyn PVC plant in Tavaux to the Benvic site in Dijon. The truck itself was designed in collaboration with Benvic and GCA Trans Service, using a DAF chassis with the diesel engine being replaced by hydrogen fuel cells that give a range of 500 km.
“This is a historical moment for our company,” says Geir Tuft, CEO of Ineos Inovyn. “The use of hydrogen trucks for product deliveries is a key part of our sustainability roadmap which aims to drastically reduce our CO2 footprint over the next few years. The Tavaux truck will be leading the way, and we have already planned similar projects with other customers in Benelux.”
www.inovyn.com
The Chemical Watch team has launched our virtual conferences programme to ensure you still have access to the business-critical information and network of contacts you need in this uncertain period.
The Chemical Watch team has launched our virtual conferences programme to ensure you still have access to the business-critical information and network of contacts you need in this uncertain period.
The Chemical Watch team has launched our virtual conferences programme to ensure you still have access to the business-critical information and network of contacts you need in this uncertain period.
In-person events usually require travel, hotel accommodations, and food expenses, but registering for our virtual conferences mean that you only pay to register.
In-person events usually require travel, hotel accommodations, and food expenses, but registering for our virtual conferences mean that you only pay to register.
In-person events usually require travel, hotel accommodations, and food expenses, but registering for our virtual conferences mean that you only pay to register.
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You don’t need to travel to attend our virtual conferences. Plus, with the recorded presentations made available to you once the conference has finished, you can watch them again whenever suits you best.
You don’t need to travel to attend our virtual conferences. Plus, with the recorded presentations made available to you once the conference has finished, you can watch them again whenever suits you best.
A helpful way of getting information when travelling is not an option. Good to be able to see presenters and presentations at the same time.”
A helpful way of getting information when travelling is not an option. Good to be able to see presenters and presentations at the same time.”
Inger PersonProduct Stewardship Specialist, Perstorp AB
Inger Person
Inger PersonProduct Stewardship Specialist, Perstorp AB
Product Stewardship Specialist, Perstorp AB
Browse our full programme of virtual conferences and find out more: home.chemicalwatch.com/virtual-conferences
Browse our full programme of virtual conferences and find out more: home.chemicalwatch.com/virtual-conferences
Browse our full programme of virtual conferences and find out more: home.chemicalwatch.com/virtual-conferences
Meet and share your experiences with fellow attendees with live chat forums and access to private LinkedIn groups with speakers and delegates.
Meet and share your experiences with fellow attendees with live chat forums and access to private LinkedIn groups with speakers and delegates.
Meet and share your experiences with fellow attendees with live chat forums and access to private LinkedIn groups with speakers and delegates.
Ask questions relating to your role, company, products, sector, or specific regulations, to our panel of expert speakers, and get valuable answers.
Ask questions relating to your role, company, products, sector, or specific regulations, to our panel of expert speakers, and get valuable answers.
Ask questions relating to your role, company, products, sector, or specific regulations, to our panel of expert speakers, and get valuable answers.
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As you won’t need to travel, you’ll reduce your carbon emissions. Plus, materials that are usually printed at our conferences will be digital, minimising the need for paper.
Sustainable and environmentallyfriendly
As you won’t need to travel, you’ll reduce your carbon emissions. Plus, materials that are usually printed at our conferences will be digital, minimising the need for paper.
As you won’t need to travel, you’ll reduce your carbon emissions. Plus, materials that are usually printed at our conferences will be digital, minimising the need for paper.
A helpful way of getting information when travelling is not an option. Good to be able to see presenters and presentations at the same time.”
COHMED
JANUARY 23-27, SAN ANTONIO
Annual conference of the Cooperative Hazardous Materials Enforcement Development (COHMED) programme https://cvsa.org/eventpage/events/cohmedconference/
Argus Clean Ammonia Middle East
FEBRUARY 14-16, ABU DHABI
Conference for pioneers in the new energy sector
www.argusmedia.com/en/conferences-eventslisting/clean-ammonia-middle-east
Internationale Gefahrgut-Tage Hamburg 2023
FEBRUARY 27-28, HAMBURG
38th annual conference on dangerous goods transport (German language) www.ecomed-storck.de/Veranstaltungen/ Internationale-Gefahrgut-Tage-HamburgVeranstaltung-Hamburg-27-28-02-2023.html
International Energy Week
FEBRUARY 28-MARCH 2, VIRTUAL/LONDON
Annual week of meetings, conferences and seminars (formerly ‘IP Week’) www.ieweek.co.uk
Intermodal South America
FEBRUARY 28-MARCH 2, SÃO PAULO
27th annual international exhibition on intermodal logistics, cargo transport and international trade www.intermodal.com.br/en
Battery Recycling Europe
MARCH 1-2, LONDON
Conference for the battery recycling and manufacturing sectors www.wplgroup.com/aci/event/battery-recyclingeurope/
Hazardex 2023
MARCH 1-2, HARROGATE Conference and exhibition on hazardous area operations and personal protective technology www.hazardex-event.co.uk/
PPC Spring Meeting
MARCH 5-7, SAVANNAH
Bi-annual meeting and tradeshow of the Petroleum Packaging Council www.ppcouncil.org/upcoming-meetings.php
Hydrogen & Fuel Cells Energy Summit
MARCH 8-9, LISBON
6th annual conference to discuss innovations in hydrogen and fuel cell technology, production and transport www.wplgroup.com/aci/event/hydrogen-fuel-cellsenergy-summit/
BADGP
MARCH 9, COVENTRY
Annual AGM and seminar of the British Association of Dangerous Goods Professionals www.badgp.org/event-4997298
ChemCon The Americas 2023
MARCH 13-17, SAN FRANCISCO Global conference on chemical regulation https://chemcon.net
LogiChem
MARCH 14-16, ROTTERDAM
Chemical supply chain and logistics conference http://logichem.wbresearch.com/
FETSA Annual Conference
MARCH 14-16, ROTTERDAM
Annual conference and AGM of the Federation of European Tank Storage Associations https://fetsa.eu/annual-conference/
StocExpo 2023
MARCH 14-16, ROTTERDAM
The main annual exhibition and conference for the European tank terminal industry www.stocexpo.com/en/
AFPM Annual Meeting
MARCH 19-21, SAN ANTONIO
AFPM’s annual meeting for refiners and marketers www.afpm.org/events/2f65b000000026
World Petrochemical Conference
MARCH 20-24, HOUSTON
WPC 2023 provides an outlook on petrochemical supply chain, feedstocks, sustainability and more https://wpc.ihsmarkit.com/index.html?/summary
AFPM IPC
MARCH 26-28, SAN ANTONIO
AFPM’s annual International Petrochemical Conference https://www.afpm.org/events/3069ec0000011c
International Transport & Logistics Week (SITL)
MARCH 28-30, PARIS
Annual transport event, including hybrid and in-person conferences and workshops www.sitl.eu/en-gb.html
APRIL
NISTM
APRIL 12-14, ORLANDO
National Institute for Storage Tank Management’s 25th annual international aboveground storage tank conference and trade show www.nistm.org
CV Show
APRIL 18-20, BIRMINGHAM
Annual commercial vehicle exhibition https://cvshow.com/
CVSA Workshop
APRIL 23-27, MEMPHIS
Meeting for industry, regulators and enforcers to improve commercial vehicle safety www.cvsa.org/events/cvsa-workshop/
IATA World Cargo Symposium
APRIL 25-27, ISTANBUL
Annual global conference on air cargo www.iata.org/en/events/wcs/
Date Location Vehicle Type Substance Details Source
27/10/22 Dhavatand, road tanker LPG Road tanker with LPG for Hansdiha struck parked bus on SH 17, overturned, exploded, spreading fire to PTI Jharkhand, India three buses, nearby trees and houses; tanker driver killed, four others injured
29/10/22 Aizawl, road tanker gasoline Road tanker with 20,000 litres gasoline for Champhai crashed near Tuirial airfield, cause unknown; fuel Economic Mizoram, India leaked from tanker, attracting hundreds of locals; four killed in subsequent explosion, several others injured Times
29/10/22 Baghdad, road tanker LPG Road tanker with LPG, parked near residential buildings in Binok district, exploded, apparently due to MENA Iraq technical fault; nine people killed, many injured; blast blew out windows, damaged nearby cars
29/10/22 Zinder, road tanker fuel Road tanker with 64,000 litres fuel (probably gasoline) for Niamey suffered unspecified accident in village; AFP Niger crowds gathered to siphon off fuel; vapours were ignited by motorbike, causing explosion that killed seven
2/11/22 Paulina, freight train hydrochloric Six cars of freight train derailed in St James Parish; one tank car with 20,000 gal (75 m3) hydrochloric acid ABC Louisiana, US acid leaked; nearby residents evacuated; cause of derailment under investigation
4/11/22 Rocky Mount, truck explosives Truck carrying explosives, other hazmat overturned on US-64 during morning rush hour; some load spilled News N Carolina, US to road; nearby residents, businesses evacuated, highway closed; driver cited for speed on off-ramp Nation
5/11/22 Norfolk, road tanker gasoline Tank truck overturned on Route 44, spilling some 8,200 gal (31 m3) gasoline, some of which reached storm WFSB Connecticut, US drain; local residents evacuated, some roads closed; minor injuries reported
11/11/22 Ochadamu, road tanker gasoline Following accident at checkpoint, truck drivers fell into argument with military personnel, who confiscated a The Kogi, Nigeria phone; in protest a driver parked his tanker across the road; it was hit by another truck, exploded, killing 11 Eagle
17/11/22 Bethlehem, road tanker gasoline Tank truck overturned after driver lost control on curve, spilling some 6,000 gal (22.7 m3) gasoline; some ABC Pennsylvania, US 400 homes evacuated in case of fire or explosion; driver lightly injured
20/11/22 Pune, road tanker gasoline Speeding road tanker ran out of control when brakes failed, hitting nearly 50 other vehicles on Navale Bridge DNA Maharashtra, India on Pune-Bengaluru highway; fuel spilling from tanker made road slippery, causing more accidents; 30 hurt 24/11/22 Ruse, road tanker lube oil Road tanker caught fire, exploded within plant for industrial oils in northern Bulgaria; one person killed in Novinite Bulgaria blast; all employees from plant and nearby factories evacuated
28/11/22 Kivalliq, road tanker diesel Road tanker heading for Meadowbank gold mine overturned on all-weather road, spilling some 20,000 litres CBC Nunavut, Canada diesel; road closed while mine personnel implemented emergency procedures; no waterway impacted 30/11/22 nr Leesburg, road tanker fuel Tank truck overturned on on-ramp to Route 7 in rural area of northern Virginia, spilling some 8,000 gal Fox Virginia, US (30 m3) unspecified fuel; road closed while remaining fuel was transferred and wreck was removed News
1/12/22 nr Macoun, freight train oil Some 25 cars of CP train derailed close to Highway 39; several derailed oil tank cars caught fire, sending CBC Sask., Canada dense clouds of black smoke into sky; road closed in both directions; TSB investigating
2/12/22 Bimbila, road tanker gasoline Road tanker suffered brake failure, crashed into truck and overturned several times; locals ran to collect Joy Northern, Ghana spilling fuel and were only dispersed by fire crews with hoses; no fire reported Online
5/12/22 nr Ryazan, road tanker fuel Three people killed, six injured by explosion in road tanker at airfield near Ryazan; not clear from reports RIA Russia what the tanker was carrying or why it exploded Novosti
6/12/22 Wanaparthy, road tanker oil Road tanker with unspecified oil cargo had tyre blowout on NH-44; driver parked on side of road to deal with Deccan Telangana, India the flat tyre; container truck struck parked tanker, causing explosion; no casualties reported Herald
Date Location Vessel Substance Details Source
30/10/22 Cilegon, Abusamah ammonium Fire broke out and engulfed engine room of bulk carrier during loading of fertiliser; fire began to spread so FleetMon Java, Indonesia phosphate ship was removed from berth to anchorage; four tugs attending; all crew safe
31/10/22 Deer Park, oil plant oil Unknown volume of oil and polymer products (polyisobutylene) leaked from Lubrizol facility to drainage NOAA Texas, US ditch leading to Patrick Bayou; booms deployed; cleanup instigated
18/11/22 Anchorage, Atlantic Lily jet fuel Fire broke out twice in boiler on tanker (50,000 dwt, 2008) during discharge of jet fuel cargo; offloading FleetMon Alaska, US suspended; tanker remained at berth until all cargo operations were completed
28/11/22 Lake Charles, shore tanks lube oil Tank at Martin Energy Services discharged used lube oil to containment area, of which some 3,500 gal Click2 Louisiana, US reached water at Calcasieu Point Landing; booms deployed; some oiled pelicans found Houston
7/11/22
16/11/22
18/11/22
19/11/22
23/11/22
26/11/22
29/11/22
1/12/22
Three people died after storage tank with 2,000 tonnes gasoline exploded in Darkhan city; fire crews were News.mn Mongolia brought in from Ulaanbataar and Erdenet to help local team; cause of explosion under investigation
7/12/22 Washington county, pipeline crude oil Some 14,000 bbl (2,200 m3) crude oil spilled from TC Energy’s Keystone pipeline after breach in line; AP Kansas, US affected stretch of line isolated; some oil reached small creek; system shut down for repairs
15/12/22 Angarsk, oil refinery oil Two people killed by powerful explosion at Rosneft’s Angarsk Petrochemical refinery; blast was felt 45 km Moscow Irkutsk, Russia away; fire out after five hours; criminal investigation opened into potential safety violations Times
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AMMONIUM NITRATE • THE POTENTIAL FOR A SHIPBOARD FIRE INVOLVING AN IS A VERY SCARY THOUGHT. ICHCA INTERNATIONAL STRESSES THE IMPORTANCE OF UNDERSTANDING THE IMDG CODE
SINCE THE DEVASTATING explosions in the ports of Tianjin and Beirut in recent years, a lot of attention has been paid to the risks posed by ammonium nitrate in storage. However, those risks exist all along the supply chain, and the global cargo handling association ICHCA International has taken steps to raise awareness of the risks during maritime transport.
ICHCA has published a white paper, Ammonium Nitrate Fire Risk on Board Ships, which outlines best practice in the management of risk on vessels transporting ammonium nitrate. To start with, it explains
that ammonium nitrate does not burn by itself but it will accelerate the burning of combustible material, producing toxic oxides of nitrogen and ammonia, even in the absence of oxygen.
“These properties in particular demand careful consideration of how and where ammonium nitrate is stowed on board vessels that are used to ship large volumes around the world,” says the paper’s lead author Brian Devaraj, who is a member of ICHCA’s Technical Panel. “Ammonium nitrate fires can escalate out of control very rapidly. To mitigate consequential loss of life and damage, the provisions laid out in the International
Maritime Dangerous Goods (IMDG) Code should be complied with at all times.”
The characteristics of ammonium nitrate’s reactions to heat and conflagration, as well as the nature of its decomposition, mean that the specifications of vessels’ equipment, including deck cranes, hatch covers, hold linings, fuel tanks and pumps, also forklifts and other handling devices, must be precise.
The IMDG Code generally requires ammonium nitrate to be stowed on deck; however, certain forms of the compound and fertilisers containing them may be stowed under deck in accordance with 7.6.2.8.4.
“This seemingly unremarkable clause is in fact crucial to safe shipping of ammonium nitrate,” explains Devaraj. “Clause 7.6.2.8.4 states that certain UN Numbers of the product may be stowed under deck in a clean cargo space capable of being opened in an emergency, including the need to open hatches in case of fire to provide maximum ventilation and to apply water. This of course precludes a hold containing ammonium nitrate to be over-stowed with another cargo.”
The whitepaper is at pains to underline that while all IMDG clauses are pertinent to fire risk, all ships and cargo operators must be particularly cognisant of 7.6.2.8.4. as it is crucial to the ability to respond effectively if an ammonium nitrate fire on board a ship is out of control and the risk of an explosion is imminent.
The intention of the clause is that all a vessels’ hatches - including tween decksshall be openable in case of an ammonium nitrate fire. There is, however, the potential to misunderstand this point and ICHCA is working with the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) and stakeholders to clarify the wording of the clause. Several jurisdictions that handle the product in significant quantities have taken heed of this risk and the related IMDG requirements. At the time of publishing, three countries that have specific arrangements are Australia, South Africa and Chile. The guidance of these three authorities forms part of the ICHCA white paper. www.ichca.com
• FIRES ABOARD SHIP ARE SOMETHING TO BE FEARED AND, AS THE LOSS OF THE CAR CARRIER HÖEGH XIAMEN SHOWS, BEING STILL IN PORT DOES NOT CONFER FULL PROTECTION
WORD IS SPREADING that ships – most especially car carriers and ro-ro ferries – are at growing risk of fire starting in vehicles. While much of the focus of concern has been on battery electric vehicles, it is clear that recent events have featured more traditional cars and trucks.
For instance, the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has determined that the severe fire that struck the car carrier Höegh Xiamen in the port of Jacksonville, Florida on 4 June 202 was caused by an electrical arc or component fault in one of the used vehicles it had loaded.
The fire broke out as the vessel was preparing to depart the Blount Island Horizon Terminal bound for Baltimore; crew spotted smoke coming from a ventilation housing and discovered a fire on deck 8, which had been loaded with used vehicles; they attempted to fight the fire but were beaten back by heavy smoke and handed over to shoreside fire department teams. The fire proved very difficult to extinguish and nine firefighters were injured, five of them seriously, by an explosion as they opened an exhaust vent, causing an over-pressurisation event. After that, responders took a defensive strategy and it was not until eight days later that the fire was properly extinguished.
The vessel and its cargo of 2,420 used vehicles were declared a total loss, valued at some $40m; the ship itself was towed to Turkey for demolition.
The transport of used vehicles is currently exempted from the US Hazardous Materials
Regulations (HMR), so long as the vessel has a stowage area specifically designed and approved for carrying vehicles. However, NTSB says, used vehicles are often damaged and present an elevated risk of fire. “We believe that greater inspection, oversight, and enforcement are needed to reduce this risk,” its report notes.
NTSB’s investigation also found that the detection of the fire was delayed because the vessel’s operator did not have procedures in place to minimise the amount of time that detection systems were deactivated after loading. Shoreside response was also delayed as the ship’s master did not have contact information for local rescue authorities and did not know how to report the fire by radio. The master also delayed the release of the ship’s fixed carbon dioxide firefighting system.
NTSB determined that the probable cause of the fire aboard the vehicle carrier was the ineffective oversight by the vessel’s operators of longshoremen at the terminal, which did not identify that battery securement procedures were not being followed. An arc or other electrical fault from an improperly disconnected battery in a used vehicle started the fire.
NTSB has made recommendations to the companies involved to improve the oversight of vehicle loading and the training of personnel involved in battery securement in used and damaged vehicles. NTSB also made recommendations to federal agencies to improve regulations for vehicle carriers that transport used vehicles.
Specifically, NTSB has recommended that the US Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) eliminate the exception provided in paragraph 176.905(i) of HMR for used and damaged flammable liquid-powered vehicles carried by ro-ro vehicle carriers; and that the US Coast Guard propose that the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) eliminate special provision 961 from the International Maritime Dangerous Goods (IMDG) Code.
The full report on the incident can be downloaded from the NTSB website at www.ntsb.gov/investigations/AccidentReports/ Reports/MAR2104.pdf.
ADR
THE UN ECONOMIC Commission for Europe’s (ECE) Working Party on the Transport of Dangerous Goods (WP15) held its 112th session from 8 to 11 November 2022, once again in hybrid format with some delegates participating online. The meeting was chaired by Ariane Roumier (France) with Alfonso Simoni (Italy) as vice-chair; it was attended by representatives from 26 contracting parties, as well as from Australia, Jordan and Nigeria, the latter as a full member. Also represented were the EU, the Intergovernmental Organisation for International Carriage by Rail (OTIF) and seven non-governmental organisations. The Working Party welcomed the accession of Uganda to the ADR Agreement, which brought the number of contracting parties to 54. The Working Party invited the participation of all contracting parties, all those countries
looking to accede to ADR and countries applying or intending to apply the provisions in the annexes to ADR in their national regulations. It also reminded that those countries that have not yet deposited the necessary legal instruments for the 1993 Protocol to enter into force to take the necessary measures.
As the 2023 text of ADR had been finalised at WP15’s previous meeting (HCB July-August 2022, page 52) and the UN Committee of Experts on the Transport of Dangerous Goods and GHS was not to adopt the final amendments that will appear in the 23rd revised edition of the UN Model Regulations until December, the November session of WP15 was concerned mainly with ratifying those amendments already agreed by the Joint Meeting at its autumn session in September (HCB December 2022, page 38).
Indeed, the session was faced with only five working documents as it began its preparation of the text of ADR that will enter into force in 2025.
The first item to consider was an informal document provided by the secretariat, summarising the decisions made at the Joint Meeting. To recap, these are:
• Renumbering of the paragraphs in 1.8.3.2 and the insertion of ‘consignment,’ before ‘carriage,’ twice, to include consignors in the exemption provided to other players in the transport chain from the need to appoint a dangerous goods safety adviser under certain circumstances
• Deletion of the last sentence of the fifth paragraph of special provision 376 and the addition of a new special provision 377 concerning the transport of damaged or defective lithium cells and batteries and their assignment to transport category 0, which in the Dangerous Goods List is assigned to UN Nos 3090, 3091, 3480 and 3481
• Permission to maintain the tank record in electronic form, via a new Note to 4.3.2.1.7
• Various updates and additions to the lists of standards in Chapters 6.2 and 6.8. With regard to the last point, the square
• WP15 HAS BEGUN THE WORK OF PREPARING THE 2025 TEXT OF ADR. IT IS CLEAR THAT AT LEAST SOME AMENDMENTS WILL BE NEEDED TO REFLECT THE UN’S SUSTAINABILITY AGENDA
brackets inserted around EN 13799:2022 in the table in 6.8.2.6.1 were removed, as this standard has now been published.
The secretariat had spotted that, when WP15 adopted amendments to allow the use of battery electric vehicles as AT vehicles, the references to ISO standards in 9.2.2.2.2 were not complete; specifically, two of the three standards noted did not include the publication year. Its paper proposed replacing the version in the 2023 text of ADR with “ISO 19642-8:2019, ISO 19642-9:2019 or ISO 19642-10:2019”, which was agreed. This will appear in the 2025 text of ADR, rather than as a correction to the 2023 text.
The inclusion of these provisions for battery electric vehicles arrived late in the day as WP15 faced pressure to start providing the regulatory environment to allow the energy transition to play a role in the transport of dangerous goods. That process is continuing through an informal working group on electrified vehicles, which had met several times online since the previous WP15 session in May 2022. That group has identified that the existing UN Regulations on vehicle design and construction, No 100 on battery electric
vehicles and No 134 on hydrogen-fuelled vehicles, are insufficiently detailed to cover all the minimum safety requirements for trucks used to carry dangerous goods. It also felt that it would be inappropriate to include the detailed requirements within ADR and that the UN Regulations should be amended. Consideration was given to including generic descriptions in ADR, though this may be too ambiguous.
The Working Party endorsed the approach suggested and encouraged the informal working group to continue its work. It also noted that the World Forum for the Harmonisation of Vehicle Regulations (WP29) was looking into developing regulations for the use of highly automated and autonomous vehicles by 2025 and felt it may also have to take this into account for ADR in the future. The Working Party also noted that the EU will require new vehicles to be equipped with electronic stability control and thought it might be interesting to introduce similar requirements into ADR so that the obligation can be extended to all ADR contracting parties.
Meanwhile, the Organisation of Motor Vehicle Manufacturers (OICA) had submitted a proposal to WP29’s Working Party on General Safety Provisions (GRSG) to align Regulation
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No 105 with the 2023 edition of ADR. GRSG agreed to the proposal, which will now be presented to the March 2023 session of WP29 for adoption.
At its 110th session, WP15 had adopted guidelines for the determination of the first date of registration of road vehicles (or date of entry into service if registration is not mandatory) for the carriage of dangerous goods in accordance with the requirements of Chapter 9.2. These guidelines have now been published on the ECE website, with a correction to the English text, which originally missed the “not” before “mandatory”.
Turkey felt there was an issue with the tunnel codes for a certain group of dangerous goods, namely those that are only transported in packages, cannot be transported in Limited Quantities and are assigned to transport category 4. These currently have a tunnel code “E”, which Turkey felt was in conflict with the other provisions and should instead be “(-)”.
The proposal did not receive support, with the Working Party confirming that the tunnel restriction code “E” for the entries listed is justified on the basis of the hazards
associated with the tunnel transport of those goods outside of the exemption regime under 1.1.3.6. It did allow, though, that the wording of 1.9.5.3.6 and 8.6.3.3 might benefit from
Poland arrived with a solution to a problem raised by Austria at the last meeting, which was that it had come across certificates of approval that did not meet the strict model used in ADR as they contained additional
mentioned that, as the certificates are official documents, national law requires the use of such security features and other contracting parties felt that there was no reason why they
modification to 9.1.3.3 which, after some changes suggested by the Netherlands, was adopted by the Working Group. As a result, the following text is added at the end of the first
It may include additional security features such as a hologram, UV printing, guilloche
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Contracting Parties that have introduced additional security features in the certificate of approval shall provide the UNECE secretariat with an example of the national model for any
certificate intended for issue in accordance with this section. Contracting Parties shall also provide explanatory notes to enable the verification of conformity of certificates against the examples provided. The secretariat shall make this information available on its website.
The secretariat offered some consequential amendments following the adoption in the 2023 text of ADR of new provisions for tanks with shells manufactured of fibre-reinforced plastics (FRP) material. Those new provisions, taken from the UN Model Regulations, have been introduced in Chapter 6.9 and apply to portable tanks. ADR already had provisions in 6.9, which have been transferred to a new Chapter 6.13, whose scope is limited to tank vehicles and demountable tanks and does not cover tank containers and tank swap bodies. The secretariat noted that this meant the title of Chapter 4.4 should be amended, as it refers to Chapter 6.13 and thus no longer applies to tank containers and tank swap bodies. It also queried whether the provisions of Chapter 4.4 remain applicable to FRP tank containers that will continue to be used in accordance with the transitional measure in 1.6.4.59.
The first point was easy to address, and the title of Chapter 4.4 will be changed to: “USE OF FIBRE-REINFORCED PLASTICS (FRP)
FIXED TANKS (TANK-VEHICLES) AND DEMOUNTABLE TANKS”.
The Working Party confirmed that the transitional measure remains applicable and, following input from Poland, amended the wording of 1.6.4.59 to read:
Fibre-reinforced plastics tank-containers constructed before 1 July 2033 in accordance with the requirements of Chapter 6.9 in force up to 31 December 2022, may still be used, in accordance with the provisions of Chapter 4.4 in force up to 31 December 2022.
In addition, the explanatory note for column (10) of Table A in Chapter 3.2 is re-worded, with “For fibre-reinforced plastic portable tanks” replaced by “For portable tanks with shells made of FRP materials”.
The secretariat brought to the Working Party’s attention the conclusion of the Explosives Working Group (EWG) that had met during the 60th session of the UN Sub-committee of
Experts on the Transport of Dangerous Goods in June/July 2022 and was due to result in a proposal for the 61st session to amend the definition of ‘pyrotechnic substances’ to clarify that they are explosive substances. In light of this, the Working Party confirmed that quantities of pyrotechnic substances will need to be taken into account in the calculation of the net mass of explosive substance in 7.5.5.2 as well in relation to 1.1.3.6 and tunnel restrictions. That interpretation will be worked up and published on the dedicated page of the UN ECE website.
The secretariat also referred to the autumn 2022 session of the Joint Meeting, which discussed the provisions relating to overpacks in deliveries direct to consumers. This prompted the question as to whether two- and three-wheeled vehicles fall under the scope of ADR, since some delivery companies have been taking to using such vehicles, particularly in urban operations. The issue is particularly pressing since, once the Protocol of 1993 comes into effect, Article 1(a) of the ADR Agreement will be revised to specify that the term “vehicle” applies to motor vehicles with at least four wheels.
The Working Party agreed on the need for discussion but also felt that regard would have to be given to other regulatory and legislative texts, such as the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties of 1968, and that it would be premature to present the issue to the Joint Meeting. It asked the secretariat to prepare an official document for the next session and, before then, to consult with the UN’s office of legal affairs.
A round table discussion on the circular economy from the perspective of multimodal transport of dangerous goods was held during the Working Party’s session, in response to a request from the Inland Transport Committee (ITC) for an annual report from its subsidiary bodies (including WP15) on their work related to the circular economy and the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The UN ECE Sustainable Transportation Division reminded delegates that the UN Economic and Social Council (Ecosoc) had
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also recently revised the terms of reference for ITC, with a view to encouraging nonmember countries of ECE to participate in
Participants in the round table session recognised that the work of UN bodies on the transport of dangerous goods was already having an impact, direct or indirect, on the development of the circular economy and the SDGs and that it was now important to better identify the links between those areas. The Working Party decided to dedicate a new agenda item to the SDGs and the circular economy to allow for regular follow-up. It also invited delegations, when submitting proposals, to note in the justification part any interlinkage there might be with those topics.
runs out in 2023, though there may be a
Following discussions at previous sessions of WP15 that identified the need to translate ADR into Arabic in order to promote its adoption in the region, EuroMed TSP had taken on the work and it was anticipated that an Arabic language version of ADR 2023 would be available before the end of November 2022 (though it was not available on the UN website by that point). To ensure that this work will be of continued use, a means needs to be found to allow the translation of amendments every two years; the secretariat was invited to consult the relevant services to identify a
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The EuroMed Transport Support Project (TSP) gave a progress report on its work on ADR issues, which is promoting the alignment of national legislation with ADR in some countries in the Middle East and North Africa. Since 2012, much has been done to raise awareness but there is a lot of work still to do – and EU funding for the project
The secretariat also reminded delegations that, if they so wished, they could provide a link to their national translation of ADR so that it could be posted on the ECE website.
The 113th session of WP15 is provisionally scheduled to take place in Geneva from 15 to 19 May 2023; Ariane Roumier and Alfonso Simoni have been re-elected to act as chair and vice-chair, respectively, for 2023.
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CANADA • TRANSPORT CANADA HAS ISSUED A FAR-REACHING PROPOSAL TO AMEND ITS TDG REGULATIONS TO BRING THEM CLOSER INTO LINE WITH INTERNATIONAL AND US PROVISIONS
TRANSPORT CANADA HAS acknowledged that its Transportation of Dangerous Goods (TDG) Regulations are not aligned with the latest international codes, a situation that directly affects Canadian stakeholders, imposing an administrative and economic burden and putting them at a competitive disadvantage. Also, differences between Canadian and US regulations create regulatory barriers that impede the seamless transport of dangerous goods across the border, resulting in additional costs, delays and administrative burden. In addition, the provisions for air transport lack clarity and impose costs on stakeholders because they do not reflect current domestic needs, including the need to transport dangerous goods to remote communities.
In response, Transport Canada has published proposals to issue Regulations Amending Certain Regulations Made Under the Transportation of Dangerous Goods Act, 1992. This includes:
• The incorporation of changes and new requirements adopted in the 22nd revised edition of the UN Model Regulations and
Amendment 40-20 of the International Maritime Dangerous Goods (IMDG) Code
• Amendments to the existing TDG provisions for dangerous goods safety marks, classification information, shipping names and packaging requirements
• Updates to Canadian standards that are incorporated by reference, to better align with the UN Model Regulations in terms of the design, manufacture and use of means of containment
• Allowing the use of dangerous goods safety marks prescribed in the US Hazardous Materials Regulations (HMR) and special permits issued in the US for the transport of dangerous goods by road and rail across North America
• A complete revision of the air transport requirements in Part 12 of the TDG Regulations, updating provisions for transport to remote locations and exemptions for medical, scientific, aerial and enforcement activities to reflect current domestic needs.
The proposed amendments have been under discussion since 2019 and have
received broad support from industry. The final proposals were published in Canada Gazette Part I on 26 November 2022 with a 75-day consultation ending on 9 February 2023. After that, Transport Canada will work up a final rule for publication in Canada Gazette Part II, at which point the amendments will take effect.
The TDG Regulations include a list of dangerous goods in Schedule 1; however, even if a substance is listed here, a consignor in Canada must determine, on the basis of tests, if the substance does in fact meet the criteria. Given that the dangerous goods included in Schedule 1 are already classified, requiring validation of the internationally agreed classification is unnecessarily onerous for stakeholders.
Transport Canada says that stakeholders also find it challenging to comply with the outdated classification provisions in the TDG Regulations, which have not adopted changes included in the UN Model Regulations since 2001. This lack of alignment means that Canadian consignors are missing out on the use of safer and more practical testing methods.
The proposed Regulations would simplify the classification process by referring directly, where possible, to the classification provisions in the UN Recommendations, except for the classification of explosives and radioactive materials, which are regulated under the Explosives Regulations 2013 and the Packaging and Transport of Nuclear Substances Regulations 2015, respectively. This would allow for use of the most up-todate classification provisions and provide harmonisation.
Transport Canada has also got behind with adopting new UN numbers included in recent editions of the UN Model Regulations; Its proposals will therefore add 16 new UN entries covering solid medical waste, articles containing dangerous goods, lithium batteries in cargo transport units, and cobalt dihydroxide powder.
Nor have recent updates and additions to the special provisions been adopted. Transport
Canada’s proposals would add six new special provisions covering a range of topics, and update several existing special provisions to reflect changes in the UN Model Regulations or to provide clarification.
Currently, the TDG Regulations do not allow text to appear on placards, although there is permission to do so in the UN Model Regulations. Transport Canada is proposing to allow the use of placards prescribed in the US HMR, including the display of text, as part of its aim to simplify cross-border transport.
Transport Canada has also been looking at its current restrictions on the minimum size of labels, particularly for gas cylinders and small packages. These provisions will be aligned with the UN Model Regulations, along with a specification that all labels displayed on a means of containment must be so positioned as to be visible from a single vantage point.
Another recently adopted UN provision is included in the proposals, namely the requirement to add qualifying words such as ‘MOLTEN’, ‘STABILISED’, ‘TEMPERATURE CONTROLLED’ AND ‘MIXTURE’ as part of the proper shipping name, where relevant.
The proposals also aim to wrap up some standards recently issued by the Canadian General Standards Board (CGSB), specifically: CAN/CGSB-43.150 on the design, manufacture and use of UN standardised drums, jerricans, boxes, bags, combination packaging, composite packaging and other packagings for the transport of dangerous goods; CAN/ CGSB-43.145 on the design, manufacture and use of large packagings for the transport of dangerous goods; and a terminological amendment in CAN/CGSB-43.125 on packaging for Category A and B infectious substances.
Among the planned amendments designed to further align the TDG Regulations with US HMR are:
• Allowing a shipment of dangerous goods
transported by road or railway vehicle to be returned to the US or a shipment originating in Canada to be transported to the US in accordance with the classification, marking, labelling, placarding and documentation requirements of the US HMR
• Allowing the use of special permits issued in the US for the transport of dangerous goods from Canada to the US by road or rail, provided the special permit number is shown on the shipping document
• Accepting the US ‘toxic by inhalation’ label and placard as an alternative to the Canadian requirement to display the words ‘inhalation hazard’ in addition to the Division 2.3 or Division 6.1 label or placard
• Allowing the display of both Division 2.2 and 5.1 labels/placards on a means of containment containing UN 1072, 1073, 3156 or 3157, as an alternative to the oxidising gas label or placard, which is unique to Canada
• Allowing the use of text that communicates hazard, such as ‘CORROSIVE’ or ‘FLAMMABLE’ on labels and placards.
There are some significant changes proposed in the air transport requirements, not least permission for dangerous goods to be transported by road or rail vehicle in packaging that complies with the International Civil Aviation Organisation’s (ICAO) Technical Instructions (Tis). As a result, dangerous goods in non-venting packagings could be transported by road or rail before or after a
flight even though vented packagings would otherwise be required under the TDGR.
The ICAO TIs would be incorporated by reference and provide the primary source of requirements for the transport of dangerous goods by air. Part 12 would be restructured to clearly identify when TDG Regulations provisions would apply either instead of, or in addition to, specific ICAO TI provisions. For example, the TDG Regulations would continue to apply for training and containers for gases and radioactive materials; however, rather than applying in addition to the ICAO TIs, the TDG Regulations would apply instead of the equivalent ICAO TI provisions. The proposed Regulations would also require that explosives be classified in accordance with the TDG Regulations instead of the ICAO TIs.
The reporting requirements for air transport would be moved from Part 8 (Reporting) of the TDG Regulations to Part 12. Reports of undeclared or misdeclared dangerous goods would be required to be submitted electronically rather than by phone. In addition, undeclared or misdeclared dangerous goods discovered in passenger or crew baggage would be reported monthly instead of as soon as possible.
Part 12 currently includes a number of air-specific exemptions to facilitate the transport of dangerous goods by air within Canada and there are several amendments planned.
The full text of the proposed amendments is available online at www.gazette.gc.ca/rp-pr/ p1/2022/2022-11-26/html/reg3-eng.html.
AUSTRALIA • THE ADG CODE HAS WANDERED OFF COURSE IN RECENT UPDATES; NTC HAS UNDERTAKEN A THOROUGH REVIEW TO BRING IT BACK INTO LINE WITH INTERNATIONAL RULES
THE NATIONAL TRANSPORT Commission (NTC) of Australia has published an updated version of the Australian Dangerous Goods Code, ADG 7.8, which will bring domestic regulations for the transport of dangerous goods by road and rail closer into line with international provisions. ADG 7.8 will be available for use from 1 April 2023 and become mandatory on 1 April 2024, assuming Australia’s various states and territories adopt it into their own legislation in time.
As part of this update, NTC undertook a thorough review and comparison of ADG 7.7 – as well as the accompanying Model Subordinate Instrument (MSI) on the Transport of Dangerous Goods by Road or Rail – with the 22nd revised edition of the UN Model Regulations. It found that many translation and other discrepancies had crept into the Code over time, which have been amended accordingly in ADG 7.8.
In particular, it was found that the Code had some definitions that differed from those in the UN Model Regulations and that words and
terms that were separately defined in the MSI were not defined in the Code.
NTC has brought those together in 1.2.1.1 of ADG 7.8, amending a large number of them, which will improve the cohesiveness of the Code. It has also attempted to harmonise the use of terminology, particularly in terms of pressure receptacles.
Among those changes to the definitions that should be noted is a new Note to the definition of ‘Bundle of cylinders’, which includes a concession for bundles that meet certain conditions to be treated as individual cylinders for the purpose of determining capacity, following a determination by the state of Victoria that manifolded bundles of cylinders do not constitute multiple element gas containers (MEGCs) and, depending on capacity and the nature of the gases carried, are therefore not placardable units. That determination was deemed to be applicable throughout Australia.
The definition of ‘Freight container’ is aligned with ADR to allow the use of non-CSC
approved freight containers for domestic use.
Australia has also aligned the definition of ‘Portable tank’ with that in the UN Model Regulations, which is critical to enable the use of other parts of the Code.
One significant area of change can be found right at the front of the Code, where the provisions for exempted consignments in 1.1.1.2(3) and Table 1.1.1.2 have been updated to take account of changes in the UN Model Regulations and other parts of the ADG Code over recent years since the publication of ADG 7. These changes include, among other matters, the introduction of concessions for dangerous goods packed in limited quantities and the introduction of new UN entries for lithium batteries. The quantities for Division 5.2 material in the Table have been updated to distinguish between the various types of organic peroxides and the column for Division 4.2 material has been deleted, as these substances are not permitted to be shipped as Limited Quantities. New wording has been added to ensure that the exemptions are not used to allow the transport of quantities that were not foreseen at the time the exemption was initially introduced.
Section 1.2.3.2 of ADG 7.7 had caused some confusion; it aims to explain to dutyholders which edition of a referenced standard is applicable. A revision now explains that any reference to a standard, code or international rule means the latest edition of that code, standard or rule, and that any previous edition may continue be used for 12 months after the publication of a new edition. That section also specifies that any referenced Australian Standards continue to be in effect, even though then have been withdrawn by Standards Australia.
There are some significant changes in Part 2 (Classification), including the addition of concentration limits for packing group III materials in 2.0.4.3.1, which was omitted when the section was originally introduced in ADG 7.6. Similarly, 2.6.2.2.2(b) was worded wrongly when it was introduced in 2023, when
‘burning rate’ was incorrectly given as ‘burning time’ and the criteria were also wrong; these have been rectified in ADG 7.8. Other omissions relating to environmentally hazardous substances in 2.9.3 have been corrected.
Australia has also followed the international provisions in providing additional text in 2.8.3.2 to clarify the assignment of packing groups to corrosive substances when the test method does not provide the necessary information.
There are a great many changes in Part 3 to reflect additions and revisions in the UN Model Regulations in recent years, together with the correction of various historical errors in ADG in terms of the assignment of special provisions, packing instructions and special packing provisions. Those errors extend to the special provisions themselves – not least the assignment of SP 392 to several UN entries, which was overlooked when the Code was
amended to reflect the 20th revised edition of the UN Model Regulations.
The local special provision AU03 has been amended to remove the requirement to obtain an exemption from the competent authority when transporting non-odorised LPG in South Australia.
Most of the changes in Part 4 reflect recent amendments in the UN Model Regulations although, again, ADG 7.8 corrects some historical errors, including the omission of the definition of ‘react dangerously’ in 4.1.1.6 and a correction in 4.1.1.18.2 on the requirements for salvage packagings.
Previously omitted text has been included in 4.1.6.1.11 on prohibited repairs to pressure receptacles for Class 2 gases. There are also changes relating to packagings for gases in Part 6, including minor clarifying amendments to distinguish between cylinders, cylinder shells and inner vessels in 6.2.1. Among the lists of standards, a new section and table have been added in 6.2.2.1.9 relating to non-refillable UN cylinders. Elsewhere, there are the usual number of additions, revisions and deletions among the referenced standards.
ADG 7.8 incorporates the new Chapter 6.9 on the design, construction, inspection and testing of portable tanks with shells made from fibre-reinforced plastics (FRP) materials, with the existing Chapters 6.9 and 6.10 now renumbered.
In Part 8, which covers stowage and restraint in cargo transport units, there is an amendment to 8.1.3.2 to allow the use of a certified load restraint curtain system (CLRS) as an alternative to gates in curtain-sided vehicles. NTC notes that, as currently written, 8.1.3 provides no requirement that a restraining gate must be rated and that, therefore, this is potentially less safe than using a rated CLRS. An additional amendment specifies that, when rated gates are used, they must form part of a complete load restraint system that complies with the load restraint guide.
Chapter 11.2 currently requires the emergency information that must be carried on any vehicle transporting a placard load to take the form of the Initial Emergency Response Guide (HB:76) published by Standards Australia, though NTC notes that this has not been updated since 2010. The Competent Authorities Panel has since approved the use of the Australian Emergency Response Guide Book, which is closely based on the North American guide, and this has now also been adopted by New Zealand and most recently revised in 2021 as the Australian and New Zealand Emergency Response Guide Book (ANZ-ERG). There is now a process in place for this to be regularly updated and, therefore, NTC deemed it appropriate to define ‘Emergency information’ in 11.2.1 as being the current edition of ANZ-ERG.
NTC has a dedicated page on its website relating to the ADG Code at www.ntc.gov.au/ codes-and-guidelines/australian-dangerousgoods-code; this includes downloadable versions of ADG 7.7 and 7.8, ANZ-ERG2021, the list of Emergency Action (Hazchem) Codes and the Dangerous Goods List. There are also links to the various competent authorities and other supporting information.
•
ANOTHER STEP THIS MONTH BUT SOME SHIPOWNERS FEEL THAT THE CII RATING IS A BLUNT INSTRUMENT THAT COULD BACKFIRE
THE INTERNATIONAL MARITIME Organisation (IMO), as an agency of the UN, is committed to pursuing policies that will help deliver on the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). For the maritime industry, that has meant a steady stream of new regulation that aims to reduce emissions from shipboard sources, improve fuel efficiency and reduce the impact on the marine environment.
While all this comes at great expense to industry, responsible shipowners recognise their duty to protect the environment – while
also running their vessels efficiently and keeping their shareholders happy. That has included reducing sulfur oxide emissions through the use of exhaust scrubbers and ultra-low sulfur conventional fuels, designing new ships with optimised hull forms, and investigating the use of alternative fuels such as biofuels, LNG, ammonia, hydrogen and methanol. Industry appreciates the global approach taken by IMO, which helps create a level playing field and gives operators a single set of targets to achieve.
IMO’s latest tool to tackle emissions is the Carbon Intensity Indicator (CII), introduced this month to give a measure of overall ship efficiency during operations. From 1 January 2023 it is mandatory for all ships to calculate their attained Energy Efficiency Existing Ship Index (EEXI) to measure their energy efficiency and to initiate the collection of data for the reporting of their annual operational CII and CII rating.
In simple terms, every ship receives an energy rating based on its efficiency ratio, which measures the distance travelled, its speed as well as the intensity of the use of the vessel. Ratings are given on a scale of A to E, under which D and E ships are considered non-compliant and are only allowed to operate for a short period (three years for D or one year for E), before they must be corrected to a midpoint C rating.
On the face of it, this seems a fine ambition. However, by taking a ‘one-size fits all’ approach, some owners believe IMO is placing an undue burden on some sectors of the maritime industry. Stolt Tankers, for example, says CII will cause headaches for chemical tanker operators and could even be counter-productive in terms of reducing carbon emissions.
In basic terms, travelling more miles in load for less fuel consumed will improve a ship’s CII rating. “This seems to be fairly straightforward and works for most of the main ship types,” says Maren Schroeder, managing director of Stolt Tankers. “However, the sailing pattern of a chemical parcel tanker is far more complex compared to product or oil tankers, and this has not been accounted for in the current CII regulations.”
Gabriel Poritz, business partner sustainability and decarbonisation at Stolt Tankers, adds: “It’s important to note that the CII rating is not about absolute emissions or efficiency; it relates to the nautical miles sailed and varies with the operating and trade pattern of each ship. So, ballast voyages, sailing time, slow speed and optimising hull, propeller and engine conditions all help achieve a good rating, whereas long port stays have a negative effect.”
Chemical tankers spend a disproportionate amount of time in port – up to 55 per cent of their operating days in some cases. The nature of the parcel trades is that tankers may carry, on average 10 or 12 different cargoes and, while in port, will need to shift from terminal to terminal in order to discharge and load these various products. By comparison, product tankers usually carry out a full load or discharge at one terminal, which takes a much shorter period of time.
“Even within our own fleet, if we compare the same size and specification of ships, the CII rating may vary,” says Schroeder. “A ship that sails in the acid trade, for example (which has similar trade patterns to product tankers), will get a B rating, whereas its ‘twin’ that sails in the parcel trade, with multiple port transitions, will get a D rating.”
The second issue with the CII regulations is that, in their current form, they do not include adjustments to data for events that are outside of an owners’ control, such as inclement weather or a force majeure. “Closure of the Suez Canal in 2021 affected global shipping lanes for a week, and the resulting port congestion issues continued for months afterwards,” explains Poritz. “The Port of Houston regularly shuts down its shipping channel due to dense fog and ships are still being quarantined due to Covid, especially in China. In all these cases, ship operators and owners can do nothing to prevent their CII ratings plummeting.”
Schroeder believes the options for achieving compliance in the chemical tanker sector will remain limited. “We can create unnecessary additional GHG emissions by swapping out our B and D rated ships annually and adding a ballast leg. Or we can use newer, more energy-efficient ships in trades with long port stays and older ones in trades with long
voyages and ballast legs. We do the opposite now to reduce emissions.
“Stolt Tankers is committed to our own decarbonisation ambitions to reduce carbon intensity by 50 per cent by 2030, relative to 2008 levels, and to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. And we welcome and do everything to support industry-wide carbon reduction measures and targets,” Schroeder adds. “But it cannot be right that, to comply with the proposed CII regulations, we are forced to consume more fuel and emit more CO2.”
Stolt Tankers thinks there are three things IMO can do to improve the accuracy and effectiveness of the CII regulations. Firstly, IMO should clarify if biofuels can be used and how their emissions should be measured –direct emissions from the ship or a well-towake approach. This could affect whether or not shipowners calculate that retrofitting their ships to use such fuels is economically viable.
Secondly, for those ships that have low ratings, such as chemical tankers, IMO should give more consideration to corrective actions for each market segment to take account of different trading patterns. Allowing flag states some discretion to apply real-world solutions that make sense in their segment, and offer the most benefit to the environment, will help to move the whole industry towards our collective aim of reducing global emissions as soon as possible.
Finally, IMO should agree a definition for force majeure and other events that are outside the control of operations and define a process for any ship affected by such events to submit a request for an element of its reported period to be omitted from the calculation of its CII rating.
IMO and its member states are actively engaged in a revision of the Initial IMO Strategy on Reduction of Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emissions from Ships, first agreed in 2018, and anticipate adopting a revised Strategy in mid-2023. There is, then, some possibility that the requirements will be amended, though IMO is firm in its target of phasing out GHG emissions from shipping by the middle of this century.
www.stolt-nielsen.com
New requirements for consignor-only operators in the dangerous goods supply chain –sometimes referred to as ‘office-only’ businesses – have come into force at the start of this year, with the expiry of a transitional provision under ADR and RID. All consignors now have to have a qualified dangerous goods safety adviser (DGSA), either on their staff or under contract. As was evident at the VCA Dangerous Goods Seminar in June 2022, this requirement is news to many, despite it being in ADR/RID for some years.
To help those who might now find themselves in scope of the DGSA requirement, the UK Department for Transport has produced a 15-minute video, explaining the rule changes and clarifying what is meant by ‘consignor’ in ADR/RID. The video can be viewed at www.youtube.com/ watch?v=3wi36XFN_qU.
The Czech Republic has issued a new version of its ADR driver training licence, taking advantage of recent discussions at WP15 that determined it was possible to include additional
security devices on the licence. The new Czech model is the same as the version required up to the end of August, except that it includes new security features on the reverse, including guilloche patterns, microtext and UV text.
Uganda has acceded to the Agreement concerning the International Carriage of Dangerous Goods by Road (ADR), becoming the 54th contracting party. Uganda is the first country in the region to sign up to ADR but may not be the last, as the East African Community is prioritising the alignment of road transport regulations in order to facilitate commerce on the main road corridor inland from the port of Mombasa, Kenya.
The UN Economic Commission for Europe (ECE) has posted on its website new ADR Guidelines for the determination of the first date of registration of road vehicles. The Guidelines were adopted by WP15 at its 110th session in November 2021 to clarify the situation, as some vehicles are not necessarily ‘registered’ as such, which causes problems
when applying transitional provisions.
The Guidelines state that, when registration is not mandatory or only takes place at the first periodic inspection, the date of entry into service should be used. The Guidelines themselves, published in English, French and Russian, can be downloaded from the UN ECE website, along with a number of other similar guidelines on the application of ADR, at unece.org/guidelines-telematics-applicationstandards-construction-and-approval-vehiclescalculation-risks
The US Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA), in coordination with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), has published proposals to amend the US Hazardous Materials Regulations (HMR) to maintain alignment with international provisions for the transport of radioactive materials. Specifically, the proposal involves incorporation by reference of the 2018 edition of the International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA) Regulations for the Safe Transport of Radioactive Material (SSR-6) and also updated editions of the American National Standards Institute’s (ANSI) standard N14.1 on the packaging of uranium hexafluoride for transport. There are also editorial changes designed to update, clarify or correct existing requirements.
The changes appeared in a notice of proposed rulemaking published on 12 September 2022.
US PHMSA has issued a notice of enforcement policy that will allow the use of international standards that entered into effect on 1 January 2023, while it continues to consider the adoption of these amendments.
The policy, published in late November 2022, refers specifically to the 2023-2024 edition of the ICAO Technical Instructions and Amendment 41-22 to the IMDG Code.
PHMSA and its modal partners will temporarily exercise enforcement discretion against offerors or carriers of hazardous materials packages that are marked, labelled or transported in accordance with these revised regulations until otherwise stated. The one exception is the use of fibre-reinforced plastics (FRP) portable tanks, the use of which is under review by PHMSA.
In addition, PHMSA will not take enforcement action against shippers or carriers transporting polymerizing substances in accordance with the Hazardous Materials Regulations that are in effect on
December 31, 2022, while it considers future regulatory amendments.
The full text of PHMSA’s notice can be found at www.phmsa.dot.gov/regulatorycompliance/phmsa-guidance/phmsa-noticeenforcement-policy-regarding-international.
US PHMSA has also issued a notice responding to comments and announcing the publication of a finalised list of frequently asked questions (FAQs) on its website. In March 2022 PHMSA said it would convert several historical letters of interpretation (LOIs) applicable to the Hazardous Materials Regulations (HMR) into FAQs so that they can be consulted more widely. PHMSA received several comments and was prompted
to host a webinar to explain the changes more thoroughly.
In particular, some parties were concerned to know whether the publication of an existing LOI as a FAQ on the website would end the applicability of the original LOI. PHMSA clarified that the FAQ initiative is complementary to the LOI process and that it has no intention of discontinuing the LOI process nor of rescinding any of the near 7,000 LOIs on its database.
Instead, by making the interpretations publicly available, PHMSA is seeking to facilitate better public understanding and awareness of HMR. Its initial list of 12 FAQs concentrate largely on questions asked by private individuals and infrequent shippers of hazardous materials. Another set of FAQs is already in preparation.
The ‘ember’ months (and we will include the ‘ober’ as well) are traditionally a time of festivities involving fire – think of Hallowe’en, Tots Sants, Guy Fawkes, Diwali, Hannukah, the Sussex Bonfire season and, indeed, Christmas. Lights everywhere – candles, torches, bonfires, fireworks. And quite a lot of booze too, which can make it a hazardous time of year.
It certainly was in the Indian state of Odisha in mid-November last year, when more than 30 people were injured by a series of explosions that took place during a fireworks competition in Kendrapara. The competition was taking place during an immersion procession at Balia Bazaar. This is certainly not the first time we have come across such an incident and, sadly, it will probably not be the last.
Consternation struck customs officials in Düsseldorf last September when they stumbled on what looked like a toy that had fallen out of a suitcase on a baggage cart. Only when it started moving by itself did they realise that it was in fact a snail – and a rather large giant African land snail, at that.
Luckily, snails leave a trail and, following it back, the officials found a bag with a hole –and another snail just about to emerge and make a run (well, a saunter, maybe) for freedom.
Investigating further, officials found six bags containing 93 of the giant snails, each measuring around 20 cm long, as well as 28 kg of fish and smoked meat and a suitcase full of rotting meat. They were all destined for an African goods store in the west of the country.
The snails were handed over to a local animal rescue service and the meat was destroyed.
Travel broadens the mind, they say, and ours was certainly broadened on our first trip to Texas a few decades ago. Houston airport (IAH) had kindly provided a small tray next to all of its security gates where travellers could put their handgun so it wouldn’t set off the alarm. This was in the days before 9/11 when security was not quite so strict as it is now, though it was still something of a surprise to think that we might be sitting on a plane next to someone packing a gun.
We were reminded of that recently when TSA personnel found a handgun at Fort Lauderdale airport, hidden inside a raw chicken that was packed in luggage. According to TSA, both chickens and unloaded firearms are allowed in checked bags, but only if the chicken is packed in ice and the gun is in a locked, hard-sided container. A raw chicken does not really count as hard-sided, one might think.
Getting anything through security these days is a challenge and a man from New York City is currently facing federal smuggling charges (and up to 20 years in prison) after being caught crossing the border with three Burmese pythons. These are among the world’s largest snakes and are also considered a vulnerable species; US federal regulations note they are “injurious to human beings” as well as a danger to native wildlife. It might come as some surprise to find that the man tried to avoid the import restrictions by hiding the snakes down his trousers (or ‘pants’ in the local lingo).
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