Safety Assessment of
Double Hull Tanker
Design and Operations

Ad Hoc Panel Discussion Forum

Although D/H construction is widely accepted as a highly effective design to prevent oil spills in the event of a collision or grounding, it is not without its own risks. This panel will examine several aspects of DH tankers, including operations, "success" stories, and the issue of fire/explosion in the double hull voids.

Following on the success of the previous six ad hoc panels in the T&R Steering Committee structure, Ad Hoc #7 will utilize the world wide web to effectively use the valuable time of its members. For more detailed information on Ad Hoc #7, we invite you to follow the appropriate links provided. We have added the hotlink above to an Discussion Forum where you can post comments of your own, or respond to other comments. Any comments relevent to the Panel's activities are welcomed; the Forum is also accessible to non-SNAME members.

The Panel will make extensive use of working groups to focus on specialized problems of interest to the Panel's members. The plan and current status of the panel's work will be reported on the Activities and Working Groups page, and on individual panel working-group pages (WG1, WG2, WG3, WG4, WG5, WG6, WG7, and WG8).  The Activities and Working Groups page also includes panel meeting minutes.

 Ad Hoc Panel Charter

 Persons of Ad Hoc Panel #7 - Complete listing of all the panel members, including corresponding members.

 Activities and Working Groups - Activities of Working Groups and summaries of minutes.

 Background Information

Regional:

Working Groups:

WHAT'S NEW

1. Call for MEMBERS - In the April issue (page xiii) of Marine Technology Keith Michel, chair of the ad hoc panel, has issued a call for members. The Call for Members gives some background and identifies a number of issues the Panel will consider.

2. New Marine Board Committee on Double Hull Alternative Designs Study - In response to Congressional direction in the Coast Guard Authorization Act of 1998 (section 423), the Coast Guard has asked the Marine Board to convene a committee that will develop a rational assessment procedure to evaluate alternative tank vessel designs. The intent of this study is to establish an equivalency evaluation procedure that maintains a high standard of environmental protection, while encouraging innovative ship design. See the Panel Activities page for more information on this committee.

3. Ad Hoc Panel on Structural Design and Response in Collision and Grounding - A sixth ad hoc panel under T&R was formed to investigate crashworthiness of marine structures in collisions and groundings. Traditionally, the ship design process for most ships did not consider the loads on and responses to ship structures in accidental groundings and collisions. This panel will review existing technologies, and develop criteria and methodologies for assessing structural response. A kickoff meeting of the panel was held on May 14, 1998 and a second meeting was held June 16, 1998. The third meeting was held on November 11, 1998 in San Diego in conjunction with the SNAME Annual Meeting. For more information on the panel's charter, objectives, and organization of working groups, and other general information, visit their home page at www.sname.org/committees/tech_ops/O44/crashworthy/charter.html.
   

   A Ship Structure Committee (SSC) project on collision performance (which is related to the work of the ad hoc panel) has also recently been initiated. For further information on this new SSC project, visit the ad hoc home page above.

4. Environmental Performance of Tankers Ad Hoc Panel - The T&R Ad Hoc Panel on the Environmental Performance of Tankers was established to develop an analytical framework for combining the accidental oil outflow performance with the environmental costs of pollution. A workshop to discuss outstanding issues from the work of this Panel was held in January 1998 in Washington, DC. See the Activities page of Panel O-44, at www.sname.org/committees/tech_ops/O44/activity.html, for a report on the workshop.