Putting safety and people first
Vela Marine International, a subsidiary of Saudi Aramco, owns and operates 21 very large crude carriers (VLCCs) and six product carriers. Later this year, it will receive two new product carriers. And as announced last month, it will acquire six new VLCCs by mid 2008.
To date, Vela sails one of the world’s largest fleets of crude carriers. The carrier giant has a motto that reads: “Getting it right the first time every time.”
Born to service its parent company, Vela pledges to keep the world market amply supplied with oil.
Saleh B. K’aki, President and CEO, Vela International speaks with Offshore Arabia.
Why does Vela Marine exist?
Our mission is to service our parent company, Saudi Aramco. Our fleet size is determined by the world’s need for Saudi Arabian oil. As everyone knows, this is an ever-expanding need and Vela is dedicated to meet that need.
How do you reduce emissions from ship tanks?
Back in 2002 at an industry conference, we heard of a Norwegian “think tank” called Venturie A/S that had an idea to reduce emissions from ship tanks to practically zero. But back then it was only that – an idea.
We gave that “think tank” a test bed and supported them with the purchase of three prototype “Venturie Towers” that would theoretically capture evaporating gases from an oil tank and re-combine them with the bulk oil liquid. After four years of modifications and re-testing, we can show that Volatile Organic Compound (VOC) gases are eliminated during the transport and discharge phase, and are reduced by more than 75 per cent during the loading phase. This reduction, if applied to all ships, would make VOC emissions from the tanker business less polluting than the farming industry.
The problem in building a Venturie Tower is that it requires highly skilled technicians. We are currently working with Venturie to make these units less expensive, which is the key to selling them to the industry.
How does the Venturie project benefit the environment?
VOC gases break down into ozone. In the upper atmosphere, ozone is beneficial, as it helps filter the sun’s harmful ultra-violet rays. However, in the lower atmosphere, they cause lung diseases and increased incidents of asthma. VOCs also include methane – which is a greenhouse gas – and hydrogen sulfide, which is toxic. The Venturie system recaptures the VOCs and holds them in the oil. The Gothenburg and Kyoto Protocols both require nations to reduce their VOC emissions to 1990 levels. The Venturie system exceeds these requirements by reducing total emissions by more than 75 per cent.
There is also a commercial benefit derived from VOC recapture. Theoretically, in-transit evaporative losses should also be reduced by 75 per cent or about 3,000 billion barrels per VLCC voyage. Vela has data that indicates actual losses are partially reduced, but we will conduct more testing to verify that this savings is real. Nevertheless, the trend on every delivery with a successful VOC test operation shows a better-than-average outturn against the bill of lading. The big benefit is to environment.
How do you deal with or dispose of your ballast water?
Vela has a class society-approved Ballast Management Plan that uses sea water exchange system. Invasive species carried in ballast water is an essential problem for Vela, and the GCC to solve because the micro organisms from foreign sea water sources can cause damage to our local environment.
To solve that problem, we have developed a system whereby ships would not have to carry ballast water anymore. The system is called AUBAFLOW. It is a revolutionary design concept because it uses a lost buoyancy rather than added weight approach to ship stability.
Simply put, because double hull construction is a “wrap around” design, a ship’s ballast tanks can be connected to piping that simply lets the water flow through the double hull as the ship moves through the ocean. Hence, the water is not carried over a long distance, but instead allowed to simply “flow through” a ship’s tanks as the ship moves through the water. The internal sea water flow is controlled by the ship’s speed and openings at the ship’s side.
Thus the sea water is not carried between the different bio-regions of the world, but left in almost the same place it entered – or at least not more than 500 miles from where it entered the ship.
Computer modelling shows that AUBAFLOW is very effective and our first field test showed that AUBAFLOW can meet and exceed the IMO’s water profile standards. We will be doing more field testing and hope to have an effective system well in advance of the pending regulation deadline in 2016.
What ranks most important in Vela?
Above all things, safety and people rank most. The reason is simple. If you are safe, everything else falls into line. For example, in Vela’s case, we can’t be successful if we are not safe, and if we are safe, oil stays where it belongs – in tanks and refineries. We are committed to safe operations and that is why we have spent so much of our resources developing technologies like AUBAFLOW and the Venturie VOC capture system.
But it is not just technology, it is also people. Only people can prevent pollution. This is what Behaviour-Based Safety is all about.
How do you ensure safety?
We have a zero-spill target. We accomplish this through a commitment to excellence that is driven by learning and encouraging shared experience, as well as rewarding success.
Vela’s use of “Behavioral Based Safety Training” has had a very beneficial effect on the workplace culture. As a result, crews see themselves as part of an environment rather than a temporary intruder with a job to do. This has translated into a lower accident rate, which in turn prevents pollution by avoiding the accidents that cause it.
Vela was also the first tanker company to get International Safety Management certification under the International Maritime’s Organisation in 1997.
Since your establishment in 1984, you have maintained a no-oil spill track record. How do you do it?
It’s a matter of preparedness. That means training, training, and more training!
There is an old adage amongst firefighters – “Train like you fight – Fight like you train.” That is what we try to achieve; realistic training that provides results. For instance, we entered into cargo handling simulation training with Glasgow Nautical College in 2004. This is training that we can’t do on a ship with a pollution risk, but we can simulate it in a school.
Every year, we participate in at least three international “full deployment” Emergency Response Drills. Then there is another four “Table Top” drills and a pre-arrival “Call Out Drill” when each ship arrives in the US Gulf to make sure our Emergency Response System is properly functioning.
Does Vela set aside a particular budget for protection of the Gulf’s marine environment?
There is not one budget line item for this, but rather, protection of the environment is interwoven throughout Vela’s operating budgets. There are several areas where our training, safety and Emergency Response programs are dedicated to environmental protection. The major ones have been described briefly above, but Vela prides itself on its dedication to the protection of the marine environment all over the world. After all, Vela’s mission statement includes the phrase “…environmentally friendly operations…”
Vela protects the Arabian Gulf’s environment and all of the waters in which it trades through intensive training – both aboard and ashore – well-maintained ships, development of new technology such as AUBAFLOW and VOC capture, and drill participations described above. Vela is also a member of International Tanker Owner Pollution Federation’s spill prevention programme.
Additionally, through our parent company and its affiliates, we support and are members of various pollution control organizations such as ROPME in the Arabian Gulf, Clean Caribbean Cooperative, the API Marine Committee, and of course, the Regional Clean Sea Organisation.
What else do you do in protecting the Gulf’s marine environment?
Part of environmental awareness is operating in a way that reduces pollutants. For instance, Vela pioneered the use of Intersleek coating that increased speed by ½ knot and reduced fuel consumption by 2 to 3 tonnes a day at the same engine power as before the application. This shortens a round trip to the US Gulf by two days and does it with 180 tonnes less fuel consumption per voyage. This shows a real, positive environmental impact. This translates into more cargo carried over a ship’s life and reduces the need for added transportation. While this benefits the earth as a whole, the Gulf especially benefits, because 80% of our voyages originate here.
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