Chemical cargoes are noxious liquid substances which may present a fire hazard which will be determined by the flashpoint, boiling point, flammability limits and auto-ignition temperature of the product. The marine pollution hazard will be dependent on several factors that include bioaccumulation and the attendant risk to aquatic life or human health. In addition, release into the marine environment may cause damage to living resources, hazard to human health and consequent reduction of amenities. The air pollution hazard posed by release into the atmosphere may categorised by the emergency exposure limit (EEL) of the substance.

Most of the chemical present more than one hazard to health, for example, it may:

Unplanned exposure of personnel to toxic or corrosive fumes or liquid should always be treated as an emergency and in serious cases the emergency team should be mobilised and the rescue plan put into operation. First Aid should be administered as documented in the MSDS, however, the Master must evaluate the seriousness of the exposure and, if in doubt, seek further advice regarding treatment.

This course is for Deck and Engineer Officers on board chemical tankers to understand the hazards when carring chemicals onboard cargo handling and equipment maintenance on board Chemical tankers and the safe working practices to adopt when handling these hazardous cargoes.

Case Studies related to incidents / near-misses on board are discussed and analysed.

The course also includes Practical demonstration in workshop-covering safety and maintenance of chemical tanker instruments and equipment.

Course Contents

• Hazards of chemicals and safeguards
• Using the IBC and BCH codes
• Use of chemical suits and PPE
• Entry into cargo tanks, safe working practices
• Use of inert Gas / Nitrogen
• Supervise and conduct Safely when undertaking repairs and maintenance on chemical tankers instrumentation/equipment.
• Case Studies