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POLICY DOCUMENT
CONTENTS
1.0 - ADNOC SHIP VETTING POLICY
2.0 - OPERATIONAL POLICIES
3.0 - COMPLIANCE WITH THE ADNOC SHIP VETTING POLICY
4.0 - APPLICATION AND ADOPTION OF THE POLICY
5.0 - AUDITING OF THE ADNOC SHIP VETTING POLICY
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1 - ADNOC SHIP VETTING POLICY
1.1 ADNOC and its group companies are required by the nature of their business to move crude oil, refined products, chemicals and liquefied gas in bulk quantities by water-borne transport.
1.2 The Group is committed to ensuring that all cargoes in which ADNOC has an interest are carried safely, with the minimum risk to people, the environment and the Group
1.3 All vessels being used by ADNOC or affiliated companies are required to comply with all applicable international and national legislation. Furthermore, they must be operated to recognised industry guidelines and comply with procedures listed in ADNOC Ship Vetting Procedures.
1.4 The ADNOC Ship Vetting Policy applies to all ships of 1000 GRT and above which:
- engaged in the carriage of bulk crude oil, refined products, chemicals or liquefied gases,
on time / voyage charter to, operating under a contract of afreightment, or
- carrying a cargo in which ADNOC has an interest, or
- loading an ADNOC equity cargo, or
- berthing at a jetty owned or operated by ADNOC Group or comes into interface with ADNOC assets.
1.5 ADNOC owned, managed, bareboat and time chartered ships are not required to be vetted on every occasion after they were initially assessed.
Separate arrangements are made for operational control and audit of these ships.
1.6 It is the responsibility of each Operating Company or Associate to examine ADNOC or its affiliated Group’s exposure to shipping risk in its business transactions and to ensure the Vetting Policy is correctly applied.
1.7 No ship to which this Policy applies, as specified above, shall be used unless it has first been vetted by the ADNOC Ship Vetting Service and written approval for use was obtained.
1.8 The Vetting software, will be installed, managed and owned by the Vetting Team within the Supreme Petroleum Council head office. I.T Support will be provided by ADNOC IT Department as required.
1.9 It is recognised that vetting issues are of an urgent nature and may occasionally arise outside of the normal business hours. The ship Vetting Service will assist and support the business at all times, Therefore a designated out of office hours duty vetting Superintendent will be nominated each week. But out of office hours calls must only be for essentials needs.
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2 - OPERATIONAL POLICIES
2.1 Closed Cargo Operations
Any ship to which the ADNOC Group Ship Vetting Policy applies (see 1.4) and which is carrying
a volatile, toxic or noxious cargo, must operate at all times in the "Closed Cargo Operations"
mode, as defined by the current edition of ISGOTT.
2.3 Vapour Recovery
Where vapour control regulations or requirements are in force, the ADNOC Group will comply by
employing ships, which are suitably equipped for this purpose.
2.4 Inert Gas
It is the Policy of the ADNOC Group that all vessels, utilised by ADNOC Companies or Associates,
which are statutorily required to be fitted with an Inert Gas System (IGS), shall ensure that
the system is fully operational.
Due to the inherently safer conditions of carriage when Inert Gas is in use, preference should be given to vessels fitted with Inert Gas when chartering for all crude oil and volatile products cargoes.
The ADNOC Group requires that any ship to which this Policy applies (see 1.4) which is fitted with an Inert Gas system, shall use that system at all times and maintain the ship in fully inerted condition.
The requirements for Inert Gas on gas and chemical tankers are defined in the relevant IMO Code (BCH, IBC, IGC or GC). When engaged in the gas or chemical trade. Such tankers will follow the code requirements for the product carried.
Lubricating Oil and Lubricating Oil Base Oils and heavy fuels with a flash point >60C may be carried without use of Inert Gas provided they are not heated to within 10C of their flash point.
2.5 Requirements for Vessel Age
The ADNOC Group ship vetting policy recognises that the age of a ship is a factor that has an impact on its physical condition. No vessel over the age of 25 years, from date of delivery, except LNG and Bulk carriers, will be employed on ADNOC Group business unless under exceptional circumstances (e.g. honouring contracts committed prior implementation date). The age of the ship will be instrumental in the frequency of inspections – see (ship inspection 2.11). The following shall also apply:
Additional requirements for vessel operating under MARPOL 13
Additional requirements for Hull Structural Assurance as detailed in 2.7.
Additional requirements for Combination Carriers as detailed in 2.8.
2.6 Hydrostatic Balanced Loading
ADNOC recognises the theoretical benefits of adopting Hydrostatic Balanced Loading (HBL) mode (MARPOL 13g) on tankers. However, the lack of industry consensus on the proper operating practices to be adopted, coupled with the real difficulty in monitoring compliance, means that the group cannot accept HBL vessels at this time.
2.7 Hull Structural Assessment
The ADNOC Group will adopt procedures and practices to ensure that the hull structure of any ship, to which the ADNOC Ship Vetting Policy applies, shall be considered in the assessment of that ship. Class reports and Thickness measurements will be looked at during the inspection stage – (see ship inspection 2.11).
2.8 Requirements for Combination Carriers
No Combination Carrier over 20,000 mt. deadweight and older than 15 years of age
will be considered suitable for ADNOC Group use for the carriage of wet cargoes.
This limit is imposed due to the structural deterioration, particularly fatigue,
associated with this type of vessel when operated in the dry bulk mode.
Combination Carriers less than 15 years of age will only be considered for ADNOC Group use for
carriage of wet cargo provided they have carried at least one wet cargo prior their nomination.
2.8 Ship to Ship Transfers
The ADNOC Group regards transhipment between two vessels to be an acceptable operation practice
providing it is carefully planned and safely carried out and ADNOC's interests are protected.
In this respect due to their construction OBO (Ore/Bulk/Oil) type vessels are not suitable for
STS operations. This does not include OO (Ore/Oil) type combination carriers. Ships engaged on
STS operations must be suitably equipped for the operation as per the OCIMF recommendations and
must be vetted prior use.
2.9 Shared Information
The shipping industry has been subjected to an increasing number of inspections by the flag
states, port state, oil companies, chemical companies and most recently P&I Clubs. These have
been carried out in an uncoordinated manner and have led to duplication of inspections.
These duplicated inspections take up operational time and distract ship's staff from their main task of operating their vessels.
The ADNOC Group supports the use of recognised industry data sharing systems and as such encourages
the use, via the ADNOC Group Ship Vetting Service, of such systems as SIRE (Ship Inspection Reports) where appropriate.
However, only SIRE reports not older than 9 months will be considered for downloading and assessment
2.10 Ship Inspections
Inspections for vetting purposes will be carried out whilst the vessel is in an
operational condition and where possible when conducting cargo operations unless
the standard of the operator is such that his operational practices have been
proven to be beyond doubt, subject to approval of the Manager Marine Risk Assurance.
This ship inspection does not include an inspection of the vessel structure but review of the structure details from Class reports and quarterly executive summary.
Inspections carried out for vetting purposes must be carried out by inspectors approved by the ADNOC Ship Vetting Service and follow the procedures laid out in the Vetting system. Inspectors will be accredited by either SIRE or CDI (Chemical Distribution Inspections) as appropriate for the type of vessel. These inspectors will be audited on a regular basis to ensure compliance with ADNOC policy.
2.11 Manning
The ADNOC Group recognises that the competence of ship’s crews, particularly senior marine and engineering officers, can have a significant impact on the safe operation of vessels and that poorly qualified and under trained staff contribute substantially to marine incidents.
The ADNOC Group will only employ ships where the certification and training of ships' staff conform to the International Convention on Standards of Training and Certification of Watch keeping for Seafarers (STCW95) as amended or a published equivalent, for the ship on which they are sailing.
Master and Chief Engineers are preferred to have served at least 12 month on the type of ships they are sailing on at the time of nominating the ship to ADNOC business.
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3 - COMPLIANCE WITH THE ADNOC SHIP VETTING POLICY
3.1 ADNOC Ship Vetting Service
Assessing the acceptability of ships to carry crude oil, refined products, chemicals or liquefied gas in bulk as required by this Policy, must be based on information held on the Ship Vetting Service database.
Ship Vetting is the process whereby all known relevant information is used to make an assessment on whether a ship should be accepted or declined for ADNOC Group business, or interact with owned or operated terminals.
The information upon which the assessment is made includes details such as, age, classification society, owners, managers, special features, and historical information such as, casualty data, vetting inspections, owner assessments, port states, terminal and chartering feedback reports, chartering history, previous owners and classification societies.
The full procedure is illustrated separately in the Ship vetting manual which is available on ADNOC main server to all parties using the system.
Used correctly, the Vetting Procedure will minimize the exposure of the ADNOC Group to risk from chartered tonnage. It will not eliminate it.
3.2 Conditional Acceptance
No ship will be accepted contrary to the advice of the ADNOC Ship Vetting Service unless the decision to do so is taken by the Chief Executive of ADNOC or his nominated deputy after assurance is provided that procedures were put in place to mitigate the risks involved. The concept is to provide an active intervention and management of the particular situation such that the risk profile is reduced to a tolerable level.
The Chief Executive of ADNOC or the nominated deputy will be advised when the needs for such decision arise and what measures will be required to mitigate the imminent risk to the group.
The conditional acceptance is a separate process that may only be used in extreme circumstances when it is a business critical. The processes will be initiated by the Vetting team and passed over to the concerned business to seek the CEO’s approval.
3.3 Interim Standard Fleets
The ADNOC Group acknowledges that the standard of shipping available in some local markets is variable and can be affected by cabotage regulations or unique geographical situations. ADNOC is committed to using the highest standard vessels available and promoting improvement in operating practices in markets where general shipping standards fall below industry standards.
The vetting team will work closely with customers whose ships are placed under this category to ensure the improvement of their ships after initial assessments until such time that ships are deemed suitable to ADNOC group use.
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4 - APPLICATION AND ADOPTION OF THE POLICY
4.1 Compliance with the Policy is mandatory for every ADNOC Group Company or Affiliated companies engaged in business ventures covered by this Policy.
The Policy is supported by the detailed ADNOC Ship Vetting Procedures documents that must be referred to for all aspects of determining if vessels are acceptable for ADNOC use.
4.2 Prior to any ADNOC Company or Associate embarks on a new business venture which is covered by this Policy; it must contact the ADNOC Ship Vetting Service, unless they are provided with a direct link to the vetting system, as part of the business procedure to ascertain the availability of acceptable tonnage.
The Ship Vetting Service will provide advice and the necessary procedural information to enable the Company or Associate access to the Ship Vetting System.
4.3 On nomination of a ship for ADNOC business, a SIRE report – less than 9 months old - will be downloaded, assessed, and updated in the vetting database.
4.4 If the ship was not a risk to ADNOC Group, and the assessment outcome was Positive, a validity period will be given to the ship as follows:
4.4.1 If the ship is 10 years old or less maximum validity 24 month
4.4.2 If the ship is 10 -15 years old maximum validity 18 month
4.4.3 If the ship is 15 – 20 years old maximum validity 12 month
4.4.4 If the ship is 20 – 25 years old, maximum validity 6 month
The validity period would not offer a blanket approval for the ship but it would not require her to be inspected or assessed again during that period. However, ships will be screened and vetted on each occasion she is nominated to ADNOC Group business or comes into interface with ADNOC assets.
4.5 The Vetting system was set up for the marine risk mitigation and as a proactive Abu Dhabi Authority initiative to protect the people, environment, and the Group asset and not as a profit generation, however, to make it self supporting and provide room for future developments, charges will be applied to the use of the system as follows:
4.5.1 The vetting inquiry for each ship will be charged at AED 1000 per vet.
4.5.2 If a ship is calling on more than one of Abu Dhabi petroleum ports on the same voyage for the same business interest, the vet will be considered as a consecutive vet and treated as one vet
4.5.3 If the ship does not have an inspection report in the SIRE system less than 9 months old, then the ship will have to be inspected by an ADNOC’s SIRE accredited inspector or one of its accredited contractors. If that is the case, the ship owners must request the inspection and;
4.5.4 Ship owners will be charged US$ 5,000 per ship inspection
4.6 A company specific source code will be set up for each ADNOC Group company and level of access will be determined as appropriate. A quarterly statement will be issued to each company indicating their use of the system and appropriate charges.
4.7 All ADNOC Companies with source codes will have direct access to the vetting system subject to senior management approval and IT compatibility
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5 - AUDITING OF THE ADNOC GROUP SHIP VETTING POLICY
5.1 The Ship Vetting Service
The Ship Vetting Service will be audited for compliance with the ADNOC Ship Vetting Policy as part of the regular audits carried out by the internal and external auditors.
ADNOC Ship vetting department, to confirm inspections are carried out in compliance with the SIRE ship inspection format (and its guidelines) specified by the ship vetting service, will audit inspectors working for the Ship Vetting Service.
5.2 Users of the Ship Vetting Service
Manager Marine Risk Assurance, through the ADNOC Audit programme, will audit ADNOC internal & affiliated companies or Associates requiring use of the Ship Vetting Service in compliance with this Policy at mutually agreed intervals.
Companies and Associates personnel undertaking ship inspections, data from which is added to the Ship Vetting Service database, are required to have such personnel audited in conjunction with the ADNOC Group Audit and the OCIMF‘s SIRE programme.
01/03/2006
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