The Methanol Institute (MI) released a Methanol Safe Handling and Safe Berthing Technical Bulletin which sets new marine industry standards in the loading and unloading of methanol cargo vessels.
The Methanol Institute’s CEO Gregory Dolan stated: “As the methanol industry grows, the safe handling of our product is the single most important thing we do as a global industry. Additionally, being stewards of the environment has also played a key role in formulating these best practices for shippers, port operators and methanol producers.”
Methanol is one of the world’s most widely shipped chemical commodities and an emerging energy resource. Continuous improvement and how we impact the environment prompted MI to engage Distribution Consulting Services (DCS) of Grand Prairie, Texas, to help quantify industry best practices and introduce new guidelines for terminals and for the safe berthing, loading and discharge of methanol ships and barges.
Over the years, ship operators and terminal operators have made significant progress in introducing new safety procedures and safer designs to minimize these risks. In consultation with the industry, DCS has highlighted industry best practices and set guidelines for the industry to follow.
A technical bulletin and six checklists have been developed as part of this effort.
• Declaration of Security
• Declaration of Inspection
• Methanol Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)
• Marine Terminal Checklist
• Marine Vessel/Barge Checklist
• Terminal and Vessel Pre/Post Transfer Checklist & Time Log
Together, the technical bulletin and checklists provide a comprehensive suite of materials which will enable ship and terminal operators to ensure that they are working at the cutting edge of industry safety and environmental stewardship knowledge.
Bulletin principal author, DCS Managing Director Mitch Silver noted: “We feel that these guidelines and checklists represent the biggest safety improvement in the carriage of methanol since the introduction of nitrogen inerted cargo tanks first deployed in 1999.”
You may read the Technical Bulletin by clicking below
Also click below to view methanol checklist for declaration of inspection
Source: The Methanol Institute
