Double-Hull Tanker Legislation An Assessment of the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (1998) / Chapter Skim
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Executive Summary
Executive Summary
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waters from 2010 onward, apart from those with a double bottom or double sides, which may be permitted to trade to the United States through 2015, depending on their age. Commencing in the year 2000, however, all Aframax and most Suezmax tankers)
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In the view of the committee, the reduction in oil spillage in U.S. waters between 1991 and 1995 was the result of a number of actions that are in process or emerging, notably: an increased awareness among vessel owners and operators of the financial consequences of oil spills and a resulting increase in attention to policies and procedures aimed at eliminating vessel accidents; actions by port states to ensure the safety of vessels using their ports; increased efforts by ship classification societies to ensure that vessels under their classification meet or exceed existing requirements; improved audit and inspection programs by 3U.S.
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These potential problems demonstrate clearly that the national and international design guidelines originally developed for single hulls are not suitable for double-hull designs. The committee is concerned that the United States, having taken the lead in mandating double hulls for vessels operating in its waters, has not assumed a leadership role in developing the technical guidelines needed to 4Such designs do not have longitudinal bulkheads through the cargo tanks.
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Despite some concerns about access to and ventilation of ballast spaces and about intact stability, industry representatives generally believe that double-hull tankers can be operated safely, albeit with additional resources and more attention than are needed to operate single-hull tankers. In the view of the committee, mandatory operational measures are necessary to ensure the safe operation of existing double-hull tankers with single-tank-across cargo tank arrangements.
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trading fleets, primarily at the expense of oil company ownership, reflects a decision by some major oil companies to leave the tanker business, in large part to avoid high-liability exposure as well as for other economic reasons. The vessel size distribution of the fleet trading to the United States has changed because of an increase in short- and medium-haul oil imports from Latin America and the Caribbean, which are carried in vessels of 80,000 to 150,000 DWT, and a reduction in long-haul oil imports from the Middle East, which are carried in very large crude carriers (VLCCs)
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ECONOMIC VIABILITY OF THE MARITIME OIL TRANSPORTATION INDUSTRY International Tanker Fleet The impact of the double-hull requirement on the international tanker industry will be driven by MARPOL 13F and 13G and by Section 4115 of OPA 90. Although the latter will gradually bar single-hull tankers from trading to the United States, it will not necessarily force them into retirement from non-U.S.
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citizens, crowed by U.S. seafarers, built in the United States without construction differential subsidies, and operated without operating differential subsidies.
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In the judgment of the committee, improvements in the USCG database in terms of consistency, completeness, and accessibility would be beneficial not only in quantifying progress toward national environmental goals but also in developing future regulations and facilitating industry planning. The committee's efforts to identify changes in the quality of vessels trading to the United States since the promulgation of OPA 90 were also hampered by data deficiencies, including limitations in the USCG port-state inspection database.
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This would benefit the development of future regulations aimed at preventing oil spills and would facilitate industry planning. Recommendation.
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