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Oil depot (tank farm)		...
End user
Further storage facilities
Road tanker
Petrol station
Underground storage tank
Covered water tank
Slope bottom
Cargo tank
Article title
Aviation fuel
Oil product transport _ j

Task 7. Oil Transport at Sea

1. Word usage and common errors.

1. Research is an uncountable noun.

Y I’m doing some research on the industrial development of my country.

X I’m doing some researches on the industrial deve­lopment of my country.

2. Qualifications = the necessary ability, examination passes, experience (for a particular job).

Y I’m taking another course to improve my qualifications.

X I’m taking another course to improve my qualification.

2. Pronunciation practice. Read the words and underline the adverbs.

Approximately, deadweight, equal, considerably, although, roughest, hazard, occur, maneuverability, deliberately, collision, procedure, substantial, petroleum, residues.

3. Read the text quickly. Divide it into five paragraphs. Give the title to each paragraph. Divide the paragraphs into: general idea, description of the particular aspect, conclusion.

   Oil transport at sea

Approximately 4000 tankers are plying the seas of the world, moving petroleum from sources to users. Tankers are the source of the roughest volume of oil spilled at sea. Tanker sizes have been increasing during recent years. Where once most of the world’s oil transported at sea was by tankers of deadweight tonnage (dwt) under 50,000, today a large number of supertankers of at least 100,000 dwt is in operation. Deadweight tonnage is the total weight of the ship’s cargo, fuel, and stores, excluding the weight of the ship itself. For tankers deadweight tons are nearly equal to the amount of petroleum carried, because fuel and stores are minor by comparison. Tankers over 200/000 dwt are called very large crude carriers (VLCCs); those over 500,000 dwt are called ultra large crude carriers (ULCCs). The oil companies prefer the larger tankers because their use considerably reduces the

cost of shipping oil. For each 1000 tons of petroleum delivered in a 250,000-dwt tanker over 20,000 km, only 20 tons of fuel are consumed to propel the ship. However, supertankers, although cheaper to build and operate than the smaller tankers, have limited maneuverability and deep drafts. This in turn de­creases their ability to avoid collisions and running aground. The crash stop distance for a 200,000-dwt tanker is about 3.2 km, and the time it takes to stop is about 11 minutes.

It is probable that the estimates of oil spilled from tankers are too low. Ninety percent of the oil spilled at sea from tan­kers is spilled deliberately. The unloading procedure for tan­kers is so inefficient that substantial petroleum residues remain in the tanks. The tankers then use seawater as ballast on the return trip to the oil fields; and the contaminated seawater is pumped out prior to reloading. Many tankers haul grain on the return trip, so they go offshore to flush out their tanks with seawater prior to taking on the grain.

A system called LOAD-ON-TOP (LOT) is used for most modern tankers and greatly reduces the amount of oil dis­charged at sea. In this procedure the oil-water mixture in cargo tankers is allowed to settle so that the oil rises and lies on top of the water. The water is pumped out from under the oil and the remaining oil is retained on board to combine with the next shipment. The use of LOTs has reduced the amount of pollution put into the oceans by tankers.

Nearly 2 billion tons of oil are transported annually along the principal crude oil routes at sea. It is evident that the major amount of oil transport is from the Middle East to Europe via the Cape of Good Hope and to Japan via the Straits of Malacca between Sumatra and Malaysia.

The greatest hazards occur as the tankers get near shore or into narrow channels, where a failure of the steering mecha­nism or poor navigation can result in an accident and a spill. Steps are being taken to improve tanker operations and to reduce the risks of collisions through better navigational equipment and improved traffic control systems. Although

the world may never be free of tanker accidents, we can minimize the opportunities for them to occur.