ChemServe And Witherbys Launch New Tank Cleaning Handbook For Cargo Ships

ChemServe and Witherbys Launch First Edition of ‘Tank Cleaning Practice’ from the Authors of ‘Dr. Verwey’s Tank Cleaning Guide’.

This new handbook from ChemServe and Witherby Publishing Group sets out best practice for cargo tank cleaning operations, including methods, equipment, safety routines and how each operation should be carried out.

Each tank cleaning procedure sets out the steps for cleaning a particular cargo, including the method, time, temperature and cleaning agent for each stage. Sources such as ‘Dr. Verwey’s Tank Cleaning Guide’ and the MIRACLE tank cleaning platform provide the insight to these procedures.

However, to apply a cleaning procedure safely and with the intended result, the crew must know far more than the procedure alone. They need to understand how the cargo behaves, the correct safety routines and the correct handling of the equipment.

‘Tank Cleaning Practice’ sets out the correct approach for each operation so that the work is carried out in the right way and the same way, every time. It explains the physical and chemical properties that determine how a cargo must be cleaned and the additional effects of different tank coatings, such as stainless steel, epoxy and zinc.

A large part of the handbook covers the cleaning methods and equipment, including direct machine cleaning, injection and recirculation cleaning, recirculation through a service tank and recirculation with decanting, steaming, rinsing and drying. It also sets out the best practice safety routines for discussion at the precleaning meeting including monitoring to the tank atmosphere, gas monitoring and tank entry, together with the checking of results and the requirements of MARPOL Annex II.

The handbook complements ‘Dr. Verwey’s Tank Cleaning Guide’ and the MIRACLE platform: they tell you what to do and this book explains how – and why.