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OIL SPILL RISKS
FROM
TANK VESSEL
LIGHTERING
Committee on Oil Spill Risks from Tank Vessel Lightering
Marine Board
Commission on Engineering and Technical Systems
National Research Council
NATIONAL ACADEMY PRESS
Washington, D.C. 1998
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COMMITTEE ON OIL SPILL RISKS FROM
TANK VESSEL LIGHTERING
DON E. KASH, chair, George Mason University, Fairfax, Virginia
TRICIA CLARK, Oil Spill Division of Texas General Land Office, Austin
ALFRED COLE, Chevron Shipping Company, Pascagoula, Mississippi
EDWARD C. CROSS, Plimsoll Shipping, Inc., Houston, Texas
DUANE H. LAIBLE, Glosten Associates, Inc., Seattle, Washington
J. BRADFORD MOONEY, JR., consultant, Arlington, Virginia
STEPHEN D. RICKS, Clean Bay, Inc., Concord, California
EDWIN J. ROLAND, Bona Shipping (U.S.), Inc., Houston, Texas
RICHARD J. STEADY, Maritrans Operating Partners, L.P., Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania
JOHN B. TORGAN, Save the Bay, Providence, Rhode Island
W.M. von ZHAREN, Texas A&M University, Galveston
Liaisons of Sponsoring Agencies
STEPHEN L. KANTZ, U.S. Coast Guard, Washington, D.C.
ZELVIN LEVINE, U.S. Maritime Administration, Washington, D.C.
Marine Board Liaison
STEVEN T. SCALZO, Foss Maritime Company, Seattle, Washington
Marine Board Staff
PETER A. JOHNSON, Acting Director
THERESA M. FISHER, Administrative Assistant
LAURA OST, Consultant
iii
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MARINE BOARD
JAMES M. COLEMAN, NAE, chair, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge
JERRY A. ASPLAND, vice chair, The California Maritime Academy, Vallejo
BERNHARD J. ABRAHAMSSON, consultant, Superior, Wisconsin
LARRY P. ATKINSON, Old Dominion University, Norfolk, Virginia
PETER F. BONTADELLI, California Department of Fish and Game,
Sacramento
LILLIAN C. BORRONE, NAE, Port Authority of New York and New Jersey
BILIANA CICIN-SAIN, University of Delaware, Newark
SYLVIA A. EARLE, Deep Ocean Exploration and Research, Oakland,
California
BILLY L. EDGE, Texas A&M University, College Station
JOHN W. FARRINGTON, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods
Hole, Massachusetts
MARTHA GRABOWSKI, LeMoyne College and Rensselaer Polytechnic
Institute, Cazenovia, New York
R. KEITH MICHEL, Herbert Engineering, San Francisco, California
JEROME H. MILGRAM, NAE, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
JAMES D. MURFF, Exxon Production Research Company, Houston, Texas
STEVEN T. SCALZO, Foss Maritime Company, Seattle, Washington
MALCOLM L. SPAULDING, University of Rhode Island, Narragansett
ROD VULOVIC, Sea-Land Service, Inc., Charlotte, North Carolina
E.G. “SKIP” WARD, Texas A&M University, College Station
Staff
PETER A. JOHNSON, Acting Director
DANA CAINES, Financial Associate
SUSAN GARBINI, Senior Staff Officer
THERESA M. FISHER, Administrative Assistant
DONNA HENRY, Project Assistant
iv
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Preface
Lightering first emerged as a common practice in U.S. waters, particularly
the Gulf of Mexico, almost 30 years ago. Historically, there has been little reason
to question the safety of lightering, despite the apparent risks involved in trans-
ferring cargo between two vessels that are under way, drifting, or anchored at sea.
However, public concerns about oil spills have drawn congressional attention to
lightering in recent years. Concerns have also been raised by some observers of
the maritime industry about the safety implications of projected increases in
waterborne U.S. oil imports and certain lightering-related provisions of the Oil
Pollution Act of 1990 (P.L. 101-380).
The Coast Guard Authorization Act of 1996 (P.L. 104-324) requires the U.S.
Coast Guard (USCG) to coordinate with the Marine Board of the National Re-
search Council to conduct studies on the risks of oil spills from lightering opera-
tions off U.S. coasts. Accordingly, an 11-member committee was convened
under the auspices of the Marine Board. The committee was asked to accomplish
the following tasks:
• investigate the frequency and risks of accidents from lightering operations
• assess the existing regulatory and management framework
• recommend measures that could reduce the risks of oil spills
The committee was constituted to include members with expertise in tanker
and lightering operations, risk assessment, regulatory and management ap-
proaches to accident prevention, oil spill accident analysis, environmental protec-
tion, international rules and standards, and USCG prevention and enforcement
v
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vi PREFACE
practices. The principle guiding the constitution of the committee and its work,
consistent with NRC policy, was not to exclude members with potential biases if
they had expertise vital to the study but to seek balance and fair treatment of the
subject. The biographies of committee members are provided in Appendix A.
The committee met four times over a one-year period, and subgroups of the
committee held one additional meeting and visited three lightering operations in
the Gulf of Mexico and one in Delaware Bay (a complete list of meetings and
presenters is provided in Appendix B). The committee also reviewed previous
studies of lightering safety and collected data on accidents and spills from the
USCG, industry groups and individual companies, and state agencies. The data
are summarized in the report, and additional details are provided in appendices C,
D, and E. Additional background information collected for this study included
relevant letters (Appendix F), regulations (Appendix G), and industry safety
guidelines and checklists (Appendix H).
The study focused narrowly on the risks of oil spills from lightering, which
was defined as the transfer at sea of crude oil or petroleum products from one
vessel to another. The committee attempted to identify and assess only those
spills that could be directly attributed to the lightering operation rather than spills
that may have occurred coincidentally during the approach, transfer, or post-
transfer phases of lightering. Bunkering, automatic cargo shutoff valves, formal
risk assessment, and a comparison of lightering and alternative methods of oil
delivery were beyond the scope of the study.
The committee wishes to acknowledge the contributions of the more than
two dozen representatives of industry and government who made presentations
during meetings and shared additional background information in other contexts.
All of this information was crucial to the study process, especially in light of
deficiencies in existing accident databases and the decentralization of the
lightering industry.
The committee wishes to acknowledge USCG liaison Lieutenant Commander
Stephen L. Kantz, who provided background on the regulatory regime and USCG
data on lightering-related accidents and spills. In addition, the committee wishes
to thank the persons and organizations listed in Appendix B for their extra efforts
and valuable contributions to the study. These include: the Coast Guard Captains
of the Port and Marine Safety Office personnel in Houston, Galveston, Philadel-
phia, Long Island Sound, San Francisco, and San Diego; members of the Industry
Taskforce on Offshore Lightering; the firms, SeaRiver Maritime, Skaugen
PetroTrans, Inc., Chevron Shipping Company, and Maritrans, who provided spe-
cial data and hosted visits by committee members; and Dr. Zelvin Levine, the
Maritime Administration liaison to the study.
This report has been reviewed in draft form by individuals chosen for
their diverse perspective and technical expertise, in accordance with procedures
approved by the NRC’s Report Review Committee. The purpose of this inde-
pendent review is to provide candid and critical comments that will assist the
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PREFACE vii
institution in making the published report as sound as possible and to ensure that
the report meets institutional standards for objectivity, evidence, and responsive-
ness to the study charge. The review comments and draft manuscript remain
confidential to protect the integrity of the deliberative process. We wish to thank
the following individuals for their participation in the review of this report:
Gary L. Borman, University of Wisconsin
Dennis L. Bryant, Haight, Garden, Poor and Havens
John W. Farrington, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
Michael J. Herz, Consultant
R. Keith Michel, Herbert Engineering
Ronald P. Nordgren, Rice University
Malcolm L. Spaulding, University of Rhode Island
Emmett G. Ward, Texas A&M University
While the individuals listed above have provided constructive comments and
suggestions, it must be emphasized that responsibility for the final content of this
report rests entirely with the authoring committee and the institution.
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Contents
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY..................................................................................1
1 INTRODUCTION.........................................................................................9
Lightering at a Glance, 12
Safety Record, 15
Summary, 26
References, 27
2 LIGHTERING PRIMER.............................................................................28
Overview of U.S. Lightering Activity, 28
Government and Industry Controls, 38
The Lightering Process, 42
Summary, 49
References, 49
3 LIGHTERING VESSELS, SYSTEMS, AND THE EXTERNAL
ENVIRONMENT .......................................................................................50
Vessels and Special Systems, 51
External Factors, 62
Summary, 67
References, 68
4 PROCEDURES, PRACTICES, AND HUMAN FACTORS.....................69
Overview, 69
Vessel Management and Safety Standards, 74
Cooperative Efforts to Improve Learning and Performance, 77
ix
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x CONTENTS
Industry Guidelines for Inshore Lightering, 79
Communications, 80
Human Factors, 81
Risk Evaluation, 84
Summary, 85
References, 86
5 CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS.....................................87
Recommendations for Shipping Companies and Organizations, 87
Recommendations for the U.S. Coast Guard and Other Federal
Agencies, 91
ACRONYMS .....................................................................................................95
APPENDIXES
A Biographies of Committee Members..........................................................99
B Committee Meetings, Subgroup Meetings, and Site Visits .....................103
C U.S. Coast Guard Data on Lightering Incidents, 1984 to 1996...............106
D Data on East Coast Lightering Operations and Incidents........................110
E Data on West Coast Lightering Operations and Incidents.......................111
F Letter Regarding Chevron Shipping Company’s Offshore Lightering
Plans .......................................................................................................114
G Lightering Zone Regulations....................................................................117
H Safety Checklists.......................................................................................119
I Statement of Task .....................................................................................125
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