Safety During Oil and Gas Transfer and Transport

Health, safety, and environmental protection are key critical components of the marine and offshore industry. Remote industries such as this have to have high health, safety, and environmental protection standards for their sustainable growth. The main aim of this chapter is to outline safety during marine operations, in particular safety during oil and gas transfer and transport. Looking at the history of regulation, it is clear that oil and gas tankers are used to dealing with very strict regulations for their operation. These regulations are not only stringent but also constantly being revised based on lessons learnt from catastrophic events, as well as from advancements in technology. The International Maritime Organization is playing a key role. Given hydrocarbon's volatility, toxicity, and corrosiveness, their handling during marine operations carries a very long list of risk factors. A review of formal safety assessment techniques reveals that many different practices are available but their implementation and enforcement depend on ship operators. With the steady growth in shipping over the years, the demand for seafarers in the maritime arena is also increasing. Therefore, it is necessary to provide training in safe work practices to newly hired seafarers. Accordingly, various strategies to implement best environmental, health, and safety practices are described.