OCIMF and the inland navigation sector with the support of the Central Commission for the Navigation of the Rhine (CCNR) have collaborated with other European organisations to produce the second edition of the International Safety Guide for Inland Navigation Tank-barges and Terminals (ISGINTT).
The purpose of ISGINTT is to improve the safe transport of dangerous goods at the interface between inland tank barges and other vessels or shore facilities (terminals). The guide makes recommendations for inland tankers and terminal personnel on the safe carriage and handling of such products typically carried in petroleum, chemicals or liquefied gas inland tankers, as well as the terminals handling those inland tankers.
This edition encompasses changes in tanker design and operating practices and reflects the latest technology and legislation. A risk-based control philosophy continues to be central to the safety practices included in the guide.
Karen Davis, Managing Director, Oil Companies International Marine Forum (OCIMF), says:
“By enhancing risk awareness, ISGINTT seeks to foster an environment where the uncertainties associated with some shipboard operations are reduced not solely by prescription, but also by encouraging barges and terminal crew, as well as their employers, to identify the risks in everything they are doing and to then implement fit-for-purpose risk reduction measures.
This puts the focus on people and is, therefore, entirely consistent with a strategy related to the human element which has had increased focus in recent years.
Central to the guide is a number of safety check-lists covering ship/shore as well as inland ship/maritime ship (and vice versa) transhipment of cargo and slops. These check-lists have been developed to reflect the individual and joint responsibilities of the tank barge and the terminal and can be easily adopted by all ports and terminals.
Lucia Luijten, Secretary General, Central Commission for the Navigation of the Rhine (CCNR), says:
Safety is critical to the tank barging industry, and it is hoped that this revised guide will become the standard guideline on the safe operation of inland tank-barges and the terminals they serve.
The guide highlights that in case that alternative procedures are adopted, operators should follow a risk-based management process that incorporates systems for identifying and assessing the risks and for demonstrating how they are managed. This should be accompanied by a robust management of change process. For shipboard operations, this course of action must satisfy the requirements of relevant legislation.
