Research On LNG Carriers Accidents In Port Waters And Response Measures

Imports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) are growing rapidly in China, and up to now China has become the world’s third largest LNG importer. At present, Chinese new built LNG terminals and those under construction are across the eastern coastal provinces, meanwhile the country’s LNG shipping fleet is also gaining momentum. More LNG import voyages, more new built ports and more practitioners joined increase the possibility of accident. In order to find the LNG ship accidents characteristics in port waters, and improve the capacities of preventing and controlling the LNG carriers accidents, a research on the LNG carriers accidents in port waters and the according response measures was carried out in this thesis.The LNG carriers accidents history in port waters from 1964 to 2013 were collected in this thesis. By using statistical analysis, crosstabs analysis and grey incidence analysis method,5 indexes consisting of the accident time, the ship status, the accident category,the accident consequence and the carrier’s age were analyzed to find the characteristics and causes of the accidents.The accidents statistics showed that with the help of the mature carrier design and construction technology, the compulsory convention codes and the industry guidelines, the LNG carrier accident frequency in port waters was lower. From the grey incidence analysis results, it was known that taking cargo operation, entering or leaving port were more prone to accidents, and the main types of accidents were leaking in cargo handling, collision or contact and equipment failure, and the accident rate would increase if the ship’s age reached 12 years or more. In order to further restrain the accident risk, a LNG port monitoring system based on the original ship-shore link system was suggested for the real-time dynamic monitoring the LNG carriers and the environment in port waters which also could be used as an emergency command platform.6 recommendations were also proposed to prevent the accident by adopting the consideration of "Human-Carrier-environment-Management".Through statistical analysis of LNG carriers accidents in the port waters, some valuable reference information was helpful for the port managers developing the safety measures. The proposed LNG port monitoring systems, the emergency plans and the management recommendations would be the appropriate solutions to improve the LNG carriers and ports security from the key point and to enhanced the accident prevention and controlling capacity.