UK P&I Club defends safety of gas carriers

March 10, 2005, Lloyd's List

EXPERTS at the top liability insurer for liquefied natural gas and petroleum carriers have delivered a stout defence of the vessels' safety record.

UK P&I Club set out to put the record straight, because it said that such vessels have often been portrayed unfavourably in sections of the media "and are not necessarily well perceived by the public".

Some administrations and port state control organisations target them for special inspection, although serious accidents affecting the ships and their cargoes have been few and the safety record has been good, according to the club's regular publication, Carefully To Carry.

The mutual has insured the protection & indemnity risks of LNG carriers since 1964. It currently has 43% of the world’s LNG ships by tonnage and 47% by number.

Herry Lawford, chairman of Thomas Miller (Asia-Pacific), part of the club's management structure, said that the club’s own analysis of claims over $100,000 showed just 32 LNG-related claims in 18 years, costing $17.5m.

He told an LNG trade conference, organised by the International Association of Maritime Universities, at Busan, South Korea: "Given that LNG ships are exceptionally carefully designed, built and maintained, the weakest link in the chain is, as usual, human error by crew and pilots."

"Collision and grounding claims on all vessels are caused primarily by deck officer error which should not surprise anyone. However, no less than 5% of major claims are caused by pilot error with 14% of collisions due predominantly to pilots."

In recent years, collision claims in Chinese waters had shown a noticeable increase. Mr Lawford said this was hardly surprising given the higher number of ship movements, "but a worry nonetheless for the upcoming LNG project now being undertaken in that country, although the frequency of such cases seems to have stabilised". The club publication said that the gas trade still employs relatively few ships — just under 1,000 carriers with over 1,000 cu m capacity — compared with over 16,000 oil tankers.

Among casualties have been the Gaz Fountain, hit by rockets in the first Gulf War. The club said that despite penetration of the containment system and huge LPG fires, the fires were extinguished and the ship and most of the cargo salved.

The club quoted a study by Sandia laboratory of the US energy department in December 2004: "The combination of LNG ship designs and current safety management practices for LNG transportation have reduced LNG accidents to a level such that there is little historical or empirical information on breaches or spills."

Sandia claimed that "risks from accidental LNG spills, such as collisions and groundings, are small and manageable with current safety policies and practices."

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