DOUBLE HULL TANKERS

A double hull is a ship hull design and

construction method where the bottom
and sides of the ship have two complete
layers of watertight hull surface:
one outer layer forming the normal hull of
the ship, and a second inner hull which is
some distance inboard, typically by a few
feet, which forms a redundant barrier to
seawater in case the outer hull is damaged
and leaks.

The space between the two hulls is

always used for storage of fuel or
ballast water.

Double hulls' ability to prevent or reduce oil

spills led to their being standardized for other
types of ships including oil tankers by the
International Convention for the Prevention of
Pollution from Ships
or MARPOL Convention.

After the Exxon Valdez oil spill disaster,

when that ship grounded on Bligh Reef
outside the port of Valdez, Alaska, the US
Government required all new oil tankers
built for use between US ports to be

Furthermore, a double-hulled
tanker does not need
longitudinal bulkheads for
longitudinal strength, as the
inner hull already provides this.
Eliminating longitudinal
bulkheads would result in much
wider tanks, significantly
increasing the free surface effect
. However, this problem is easily

Double Hulls Since 1990, the United

States and International regulations have
required all new ships to be designed with
a double hull. A double hull is essentially a
hull within a hull. The cargo is carried
inside the inner hull. The space between
the inner and outer hull varies by ship size
from 7 to 10 feet or more. If an accident
should occur (i.e., grounding, stranding,
collision or striking a submerged object),
the space between the hulls can absorb the
energy of the accident and assist in
preventing petroleum from entering the
water. No cargo can be loaded in the space

It has been some eleven years since

the United States Oil Pollution Act
(OPA 90) and subsequently regulation
13F of Annex 1 of the International
Convention for the Prevention of
Pollution from Ships effectively
mandated double hulls for new build
oil tankers of over 5,000 deadweight
tonnes as a means of preventing or
reducing oil pollution in the event of a
grounding or collision resulting in

Arrangement and layout

3.1.2.1 The Rules cover typical double hull
tankers of greater than or equal to 150m in
length and with arrangements as follows:
(a) engine room and deck house located aft
of the cargo tank region, and
(b) in addition to the inner skin two
longitudinal oil-tight bulkheads with no
centreline longitudinal bulkhead, or
(c) in addition to the inner skin one
centreline longitudinal oil-tight bulkhead.

The Rules assume the following hull form

with respect to environmental loading:
(a) full form ship with block coefficient (Cb)
greater than 0.7
(b) the ship length breadth ratio (L/B)
greater than 5
(c) ship breadth depth ratio (B/D) less than
2.5
(d) the metacentric height (GM) not greater
than 0.12B for homogeneously full load

Ship Stability diagram showing centre of

gravity (G), centre of buoyancy (B), and
metacentre (M) with ship upright and heeled
over to one side. Note that for small angles, G
and M are fixed, while B moves as the ship

External environment
3.1.7.1 To cover worldwide trading operations and also to
deal with the uncertainty in the future trading pattern of
the ship and the corresponding wave conditions that will
be encountered, a severe wave environment is used for
the design assessment. The rule requirements are based
on a ship trading in the North Atlantic wave environment
for its entire design life.
The effects of wind and current on the structure are
considered to be negligible and hence are not explicitly
included.
The Rules do not include the effects of ice.
The Rules assume that the structural assessment of hull
strength members is valid for the following design
temperatures:

Internal environment (cargo and water ballast

tanks)
A specific gravity (SG) of 1.025, or a higher value if
specified by the designer, is to be used for oil cargoes for
the strength assessment of cargo tank structures.
For the fatigue assessment of cargo tank structures, a
representative mean cargo density throughout the ships
life is to be used. The representative mean density is to
be taken as 0.9 tonnes/m3 or the cargo density from the
homogeneous full load condition at the full load design
draught Tfull, if this is higher.
A SG of 1.025 is to be used for water ballast.
The Rules are based on the following design temperatures
for the cargo:
(a) maximum cargo temperature is 80 C

Structural construction and inspection

The structural requirements included in the Rules are
developed with the assumption that construction and
repair will follow acceptable shipbuilding and repair
standards and tolerances. The Rules may require that
additional attention is paid during construction and repair
of critical areas of the structure. Tank strength and
tightness testing are to be carried out as a part of the
verification scheme.
The Rules define the renewal criteria for the individual
structural items. The structural requirements included are
developed on the assumption that the structure will be
subject to periodical survey in accordance with individual
Classification Society Rules and Regulations. All structural
elements are to be arranged to allow access for
inspection. It is assumed that close-up inspection of
the critical areas will be carried out on a regular

The ships structure is designed

such that:
it has inherent redundancy.
The ships structure works in a
hierarchical manner and, as such,
failure of structural elements lower
down in the hierarchy should not
result in immediate consequential
failure of elements higher up in
the hierarchy.

Overview of the structural design process

The strength and acceptable safety of the hull
and the structural elements is verified through
the application of the following Rule
requirements:
(a)prescriptive scantling requirements
minimum requirements
load-capacity based requirements
(b) design verification requirements based on
load-capacity methods
hull girder ultimate strength
strength assessment using the Finite Element

When double hulls were first mandated

there were a number of risk related
concerns expressed.
The more significant areas of concern (with
each of these items considered further
below) included:
maintenance;
operations;
construction;
salvage;
design;
stability; and
ventilation and access

Maintenance
Failure to maintain the integrity of protective
coatings and cathodic protection in ballast tanks in
particular has led to leakage, pollution and
sometimes fire.
CARGO TANK Close up access can also be difficult if
adequate staging is not provided, as most cherry
pickers will not pass through cargo tank access
openings and the alternative of partial flooding of
the tank together with use of a raft is often less than
satisfactory.

Operations
Double hull tankers have two distinct operational
disadvantages in terms of stability over single hull
tankers.
First, for a given depth of ship, adding a double
bottom raises the ships centre of gravity and
thereby reduces the ships reserves of stability.
Second, free surface effects in cargo and ballast
tanks during cargo operations may cause double
hull tankers to lose stability and suffer an angle of
loll, particularly if the design does not incorporate
a longitudinal centre line bulkhead subdividing
the cargo space.

Double hull tankers in general

give improved cargo out turns
over single hull ships. The
smoother internal tank surfaces
coupled with pump suctions
recessed into wells in the
double bottom make cargo
discharge and tank washing
much easier, giving an overall
reduction in cargo residue

Construction
The confined spaces of double hull ballast tanks,
whether sides or bottom, are far more
restrictive to work in than the comparatively
spacious ballast tanks of the single hull tanker
The double sides and double bottom form
natural three-dimensional rigid building blocks,
less susceptible to deformation than the
predominantly two-dimensional components of
the single hull ship.

Salvage
If a double hull tanker should run aground and
rupture the outside shell, the available damage
statistics suggest that the inner hull will, in most
cases, not be breached
Damage to an 'L' shaped double bottom ballast
tank on the other hand would cause flooding on
one side resulting in a considerable list should
the ship not come to rest on supporting ground,
but remain free-floating.

Design
Double hull tankers operate with global stress
levels some 30% higher than those with single
hulls because of the uniform distribution of cargo
and ballast over the length of the ship. I
The consequence is most likely to be small
fatigue fractures in early years of service,
especially in larger double hull tankers, unless
great care is exercised in the design detail and
supervision of workmanship during construction.

Stability
The free surface effect is the degradation in transverse
stability which occurs when there are slack surfaces
When combined with the effect of the double bottom
ballast tanks that effectively raise the centre of gravity
of the cargo, there is a consequential large reduction in
intact stability
much more care needs to be taken in distributing the
cargo on board a double hull than single hull tanker
task is helped by the use of on board computers

Ventilation and access

Ease of access for close up structural
inspection is an issue for all oil
tankers, especially in the case of the
comparatively large single hull
tanker cargo and ballast tanks. Rafts,
remotely controlled vehicles, both in
and out of water, ladder access and
staging are all used with varying
degrees of success.

DOCUMENTATION, PLANS AND

DATA REQUIREMENTS
Loading information
Loading guidance information containing
sufficient information to enable the
master of the ship to maintain the ship
within the stipulated operational
limitations is to be provided onboard the
ship. The loading guidance information is
to include an approved loading manual
and loading computer system

Plans to be supplied onboard the ship

One copy of the following plans indicating the
new-building and renewal thickness for each
structural item:
(a) main scantling plans
(b) one copy of the final approved loading manual
(c) one copy of the final loading instrument test
conditions
(d) detailed construction plans
(e) welding
(f) details of the extent and location of higher
tensile steel together with details of the
specification and mechanical properties, and any
recommendations for welding, working and
treatment of these steels
(g) details and information on use of special

Hull weight Parametric Estimation

A well known way of estimating is to use the ratio
from one or more reference ships and multiply by
known quantities for the new design.
Here is an example where, for a reference ship,
we know that the ratio between lightship weight
and the
cubic numberLightship weight, LW
Length between
perpendiculars, Lpp
Beam, B
Height, D
Ratio number, k =
LW/LPP*B*D
This ratio number
can be used to calculate the lightship
weight for a ship with other main dimensions

Lightship weight, LW =K*LPP*B*D

Revised phase-out schedule for single-hull tankers enters

into force
A revised schedule for the phasing out of oil tankers and a
new regulation banning the carriage of heavy grade oil in
single-hull oil tankers enter into force on 5 April 2005. The
measures were adopted in December 2003 as
amendments to Annex I of the MARPOL Convention*,
following the November 2002 sinking of the oil tanker
Prestige off the Spanish coast.
A revised regulation 13G of MARPOL Annex I brings
forward the phase-out schedule for existing single-hull
tankers that was first established in 1992 and was
subsequently revised in 2001 following the Erika incident.
It specifies that tankers of single hull construction should
be phased out or converted to a "double hull" according
to a schedule based on their year of delivery. The double

Single-hull oil tanker phase-out

Under the phase-out schedule, "Category
1" single-hull oil tankers will not be able to
trade after 5 April 2005, (for ships
delivered on or before 5 April 1982 or
earlier) or after their anniversary date in
2005 (for ships delivered after 5 April
1982). Category 1 oil tankers, (commonly
known as Pre-MARPOL tankers) include oil
tankers of 20,000 tonnes deadweight and
above carrying crude oil, fuel oil, heavy
diesel oil or lubricating oil as cargo, and
tankers of 30,000 tonnes deadweight and
above carrying other oils, which do not

Category 2 oil tankers, which have some level of

protection from protectively located segregated
ballast tank requirements will be phased out
according to their age up to 2010. The year 2010
is also a final cut off date for Category 3 oil
tankers which are generally smaller oil tankers.
Category 2 oil tankers (commonly known as
MARPOL tankers) include oil tankers of 20,000
tonnes deadweight and above carrying crude oil,
fuel oil, heavy diesel oil or lubricating oil as cargo,
and oil tankers of 30,000 tonnes deadweight and
above carrying other oils, which comply with the
protectively located segregated ballast tank
requirements. Category 3 oil tankers are oil
tankers of 5,000 tonnes deadweight and above
but less than the tonnage specified for Category 1

Revised phase-out schedule:

*International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships, 1973,
as modified by the Protocol of 1978 relating thereto (MARPOL 73/78)
Category of oil tanker
Category 1 - oil tankers of
20,000 tonnes deadweight and
above carrying crude oil, fuel oil,
heavy diesel oil or lubricating oil
as cargo, and of 30,000 tonnes
deadweight and above carrying
other oils, which do not comply
with the requirements for
protectively located segregated
ballast tanks (commonly known
as Pre-MARPOL tankers)
Category 2 - oil tankers of
20,000 tonnes deadweight and
above carrying crude oil, fuel oil,
heavy diesel oil or lubricating oil
as cargo, and of 30,000 tonnes
deadweight and above carrying
other oils, which do comply with
the protectively located
segregated ballast tank
requirements (MARPOL
tankers), and

Date or year for phase-out

5 April 2005 for ships delivered on 5
April 1982 or earlier
Anniversary date in 2005 for ships
delivered after 5 April 1982

5 April 2005 for ships delivered on 5

April 1977 or earlier
Anniversary date in 2005 for ships
delivered after 5 April 1977 but
before 1 January 1978
Anniversary date in 2006 for ships
delivered in 1978 and 1979
Anniversary date in 2007 for ships
delivered in 1980 and 1981
Anniversary date in 2008 for ships
delivered in 1982

Condition Assessment Scheme

The Condition Assessment Scheme
(CAS) for oil tankers was adopted in
2001 and is applicable to certain oil
tankers under regulations 13G and
13H. Under the revised regulation
13G, the CAS is applicable to all
single-hull tankers of 5,000 DWT and
above aged 15 years, or older.

The requirements of the CAS include

enhanced and transparent verification
of the reported structural condition of
the ship and verification that the
documentary and survey procedures
have been properly carried out and
completed. The Scheme requires that
compliance with the CAS is assessed
during the Enhanced Survey
Programme of Inspections concurrent
with intermediate or renewal surveys
currently required by resolution

Hydrostatic balance: situation

in which the external
seawater pressure at the
top of the tank damage is
equal to the internal tank
pressure at this point
thereby preventing oil
leaking from the tank.
Damage higher than this
point will cause oil to leak

Stringers: horizontal structural members running the

length of the tank.
Sagging: a form of longitudinal bending when a
stress causes the hull to bend downward; caused
when a wave is equal in length to the ship and
crests at the bow and stern with the trough midship, causing the middle of the ship to bend
Hogging:
downwardform of longitudinal bending when a stress
causes the hull to bend upward; caused when a wave
equal in length to the ship crests mid-ship causing the
middle
the ship
to bend
upward
Girder:ofsteel
support
beam

Segregated Ballast Once cargo

has been discharged, all tankers, must
load ballast (for weight stabilization)
into their tanks. This ballast is required
for safety reasons when the tanker is
at sea. The double hull area provides a
perfect place for ballast. Ballast in this
space is called segregated ballast
because it does not come in contact
with any of the cargo. Therefore, when
discharged, petroleum is not
inadvertently discharged into the sea.

Crude Oil Washing Crude

Oil Washing is a process to
assist in the control of
hydrocarbon being discharged
to the sea. When the tanker is
being discharged, the crude oil
cargo is pumped through a
fixed cleaning system that
washes the cargo tanks with
crude and minimizes the

Crude oil washing was made mandatory for new

tankers by the 1978 Protocol to the MARPOL
Convention.
MARPOL Annex I Regulation 13 (6) requires every
new crude oil tanker of 20,000 tons deadweight
and above to be fitted with a cargo tank cleaning
system using crude oil washing.
Regulation 13B states that COW installation and
arrangements should comply with at least all of
the provisions of the Specifications for the
Design, Operation and Control of Crude Oil
Washing Systems adopted by IMO in 1978, as
may be revised.
In 1999, IMO adopted revised specifications for
COW by resolution A. 897(21) Amendments to the
revised Specifications for the Design, Operation

Load on top
The discharges from seawater washing
were still considered a problem and during
the 1960s the load on top approach began
to be adopted. The mixture of cleaning
water and residue was pumped into a slop
tank and allowed to separate into oil and
water during the journey. The water
portion was then discharged, leaving only
crude oil in the slop tank. This was
pumped into the main tanks and the new
cargo loaded on top of it, recovering as
much as 800 tons of oil which was
formerly discarded.

Closed Cargo Loading and Discharge

Operations Prior to the requirement for inert
gas, when tankers loaded or discharged cargo,
the open venting method was used. The open
venting method meant that the hatch covers
were open, allowing petroleum vapor to vent on
the deck thus creating a dangerous situation.
Open venting was allowed because there was not
a reliable cargo measurement system. Inert gas
required the loading and discharge venting
system to be closed and, therefore, reliable cargo
measurement systems were developed and
accepted by industry as an accurate measure of
cargo. Today, tankers return the vapor plus inert
gas mixture displaced while loading to the shore
facility for processing so that no vapor is released

Inert Gas Systems Today, all tankers

are required to have inert gas systems.
These systems maintain an inert
atmosphere in the cargo tanks. In others
words, there is not enough oxygen in the
cargo tanks to support combustion. During
cargo operations, inert gas is pumped into
the cargo tanks. The inert gas is either
manufactured by an inert gas generator or
is cleaned flue gas from the tankers boiler.
No tanker should be allowed to operate
without a properly functioning inert gas
system. Tanker explosions have been
practically eliminated since inert gas