Ballast tanks inspection

1. Describes the purpose of ballast tanks

2. Reproduces the construction sketch of a ballast tank
3. - Identifies the parts in the ballast tanks which are most likely
to experience corrosion
4. List the period of interval for the inspection of ballast tanks
5. Describes the corrosion prevention methods for ballast tanks
• Ballast tank based on historical record came from the German word
“Barlast”
• The concept of ballast is not new and has been followed since ancient
times.
• In the earlier times, the sea-going vessels used solid ballast such as
sandbags, rocks, iron blocks, etc. which were loaded/unloaded once
the cargo loading or discharge operation was finished.
• This method helped to a certain extent to maintain the stability of the
ship and its seaworthiness.
• However, today’s vessels carry liquid ballast, which includes fresh
water, salt water or brackish water in various ballast tanks.
• As ships get bigger in size and the cargo carried by the vessels varies
one port to another (due to global economics, ship condition, local
voyage requirements etc.),
• water ballast tanks are used to compensate for maintaining the trim
and stability of the vessel for a safe sea passage.
• A ship at sea is a massive structure which though floatable, requires
stability to sail through the waters.
• As water is easily and abundantly available, it is used for providing the
required stability and trim to the ship.
• This water is known as ballast water and process of taking ballast
water into the ship is known as “ballasting”.
• The tanks on ships wherein the ballast water is filled are known as
ballast tanks.
• Ballast water is essential for the safe operation of ships.
• It is used to compensate for different cargo loads that a ship may
carry at different times, including during loading and unloading. ...
• It also provides stability and manoeuverability during transit
• Ballast is used in ships to provide moment to resist the lateral forces
on the hull. ...
• Too much heel may result in the boat/ship capsizing. If a
sailing vessel should need to voyage without cargo then ballast of
little or no value would be loaded to keep the vessel stable
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fx_Nst3eOGo
• A ballast tank is a compartment within a ship that holds water, which
is used as ballast to provide stability for a vessel.
• Periodically these tank compartments need to be opened up,
ventilated, and then entered to be inspected by ship's crew and
various regulatory agencies such as Lloyd's Registry.
• All the ships are supplied with a system that can take-in and discharge
ballast water.
• Ships have a dedicated ballast water system and tanks for this
purpose.
• The ballast tanks are located at the lowermost region of the ship and
below the machinery room.
• Ballasting is important for ship’s own safety and thus special attention
is given to this process.
• When the ship is loaded with cargo, it already has weight and thus
ballasting is not very important.
• However, when the ship discharges cargo and is not carrying any
weight, it easily gets affected by the sea condition.
• It is then that the ship requires ballasting the most.
• How is Ballasting Done?
• Ballasting on a ship is done through openings provided at the lower
most portion of the ship’s hull.
• The openings are connected to a ballast system through piping. Ship
ballast system has dedicated ballast pumps for the ballasting process.
• For safety purpose, none return valves are provided in the pipelines
near the openings to prevent sea water from entering the ship and
vice-verse.
• The Ship’s ballast system, along with the pumps, is located at the
lower most regions of the engine room and below the sea-water line,
to provide the necessary suction head to the ballast pumps.
• Various factors such as ship’s external and interior layout, loading
capacity, ballast tanks capacity, time taken for ballasting and de-
ballasting etc are taken into account before starting the ballasting
process.
• Continuous watch is also kept on all ballast tank levels through the
ship’s automation system until the whole process is over.
• Terms and Definitions
• Segregated ballast tanks is a tanks which are completely separated
from the cargo oil and fuel oil systems and which are permanently
applied for the carriage of ballast or cargo other than oil or noxious
substances
• Corrosion – Also considered as ‘material wastage’, it is the lead cause
for structural deformations and fracturing. It is by far the most
‘common’ of all other defects directly related to steel and its
components.
• If left unattended, corrosion is a disaster waiting to happen; either by
cargo or fuel oil contamination, structural losses, pollution and finally
possible loss of the ship itself.
• Why is Ballast Water Taken in the Tanks?
•
• Let’s assume that the vessel does not have a ballast system. In such cases,
the following conditions may arise:
• The propeller may not fully immerse in water, affecting the engine efficiency
of the ship
• The ship may list or trim as the cargo capacity of the ship is not fully reached
• The shear and torsion loads on the vessel may increase the stresses on the
ship structure, leading to bending moments and slamming
• The vessel may face issues of dynamic transversal and longitudinal instability
• To compensate for the above conditions, ballast water is taken on board
vessels to ensure safe operating conditions during a specific voyage. It can
be said that ballasting of ship fulfills the following:
• Ballasting of ship helps in reducing ship’s stresses on the hull of the vessel. It
also provides for transverse stability of the ship
• As the propeller is submerged, it aids the propulsion plant in maintaining its
efficiency
• Ballast helps in immersing the rudder, supporting the manoeuvrability of
vessel and also reducing the exposed hull surface
• The ship continually uses fuel and water from its tanks leading to weight
loss. The ballast operation helps in compensating for the weight loss
• Ballast Tanks
• Ballast tanks provided in the ship’s lower-most region hold the ballast
water.
• The number of ballast tanks in a ship depends on the ship’s size,
design, and requirement.
• For e.g. a ship might have one large single ballast tank at the center or
multiple tanks on either side.
• Moreover, larger the ship, more the number of ballast tanks.
• A typical large vessel will have several ballast tanks, along with the
double bottom tanks, wing tanks, and fore-aft peak tanks.
• A particular ballast tank on a ship is filled depending on the position
of the cargo loaded on the ship.
• This means that that if more of cargo is loaded on the starboard side
than the port side of the ship, then the port side ballast tanks will be
more filled with more ballast water to balance the cargo weight and
gain overall stability of the ship.
• The filling of ballast tanks also depends on various other factors such
as the draft required by vessel, depth at ports, capacity of ballast
tanks etc.
• Types Of Ballast Conditions
• The Chief Officer and Master of the ship are responsible for adding or
removing ballast water in the ship’s ballast tanks, depending on the
ship stability condition.
• There are mainly three types of ballast conditions:
• – Light Ballast: When the ship is heavily loaded, and it does not
require an additional ballast, the water ballast tanks are kept empty.
This condition is known as a light ballast.
• – Heavy Ballast: During the seagoing state, if the ship is not fully
loaded, ship ballast tanks are filled to its capacity. This condition is
known as a heavy ballast.
• – Port Ballast: Many ports around the world have a restriction for
usage of ballast water. Dedicated port ballast tanks are provided to
correct the trim and list of the ship during loading or discharging
operation, and this is called port ballast.
• The water ballast tanks are provided at different locations depending upon
the type of the ship. Following are some of the most common locations for
construction of ballast tanks on ships:
• Topside Tanks
• As the name suggests, these are the tanks are located on the topside corner
of the ship. The topside tanks are triangular in shape fitted with wings on
both sides of the cargo holds. They are more common in bulk carrier
ships and are constructed using transverse frames arranged in the following
ways:
• 1. A deck transverse ­under the main deck which supports the deck plating
• 2. Bottom transverse which forms­the part of the supporting frame for the
bottom area of the topside tank
• 3. Side transverse ­forms the part of the structure for supporting the side
shell plating of the tank, which is kept in-line with the side shell frames
within the cargo holds (in single skin bulk carriers)
• These tanks, are directly connected to ship’s main ballast pipelines and
during the cargo loading/ discharging operation, the volume of the ship
ballast water in the topside tank is kept in equilibrium with the cargo
weight.
• The design of the topside tanks helps in avoiding a shift of the cargo in
inaccessible spaces for the grab as these tank designs helps in carrying
the cargo such as grain etc. without the need of the trim.
• Lower Hopper Tanks
• Similar in construction to the topside ballast tanks, these water ballast
tanks are located on the bottom wing sides of each cargo hold of the
ships, and they are kept in continuation to the double bottom tanks
which run through the centre of the vessel. The hopper tanks provide
the following advantages:
• They act as additional ballast space for the ship
• Their design offers slopes in the cargo hold corner which ease the
collection of the cargo in the mid position of the hold for better
discharging/stripping
• The adjacent fuel tank plating of the hopper tank forms a slant
boundary to carry the static and dynamic load during cargo loading and
ballasting.
• Double Bottom (DB) Tanks
• The double bottom of the ship is a safety feature to avoid ingress of water
in case of grounding or collision. These void spaces are used to store ship
ballast water to stabilize the ship.
• The double bottom tanks are located between the forward part
(till collision bulkhead) to the aft peak bulkhead, dividing the engine room.
• In some ships, such as container and bulk ship, the double bottom space is
divided transversely into three sections (instead of two). This is done to
provide a cofferdam in the centre known as the`duct keel’ which are used
to carry ballast and bunker tank valves, and pipings for ships ballast tank
and bunkering system.
• The construction of the DB tanks is directly related to the length of
the ship as the vessel with more than 120 m will have additional
longitudinal framing in comparison with transverse framing for vessels
of less than 120 m lengths.
• Unlike upper topside tanks, these water ballast tanks are adjacent to
the fuel oil tanks in the double bottom. Hence, they are usually not
connected to the ballast system to avoid any chance of
contamination.
• Fore and Aft Peak Ballast Tanks
• The fore and aft peak ballast tanks are provided to perform precise
trimming operation of the ship. To achieve the required trim these
tanks are hardly filled partially to avoid the free surface effect of the
liquid
• The construction of the fore and aft peak tanks is different from the
other ship’s ballast tank as their shape is pretty irregular due to the
location and their shape highly depends on the bow and the stern
design of the vessel.
• The design of these ship ballast tanks is narrow at the bottom end,
and as the tank moves upward, the width of the tank increases
significantly. The tank breadth corresponds to the breadth of ships’
hulls.
• The valve used to control the flow of water in the ballast tank can
either be manually controlled butterfly valve or hydraulically operated
remote valve. For fore and Aft peak tanks, only remote control
(hydraulic) valves are used due to their location.
• Types of Ballast Tanks As Per Usage On Oil Tankers
• The oil tanker ships have a different set of regulations for the ballast tanks.
•
• two main types as per the usage are:
• Clean Ballast Tanks (CBT)
• Segregated Ballast Tanks (SBT)
•
• As per MARPOL Annex 1, Regulation 18 – Every crude oil tanker of 20,000 tonnes
deadweight and above and every product carrier of 30,000 tonnes deadweight
and above delivered after 1 June 1982, as defined in regulation 1.28.4, shall be
provided with segregated ballast tanks.
• Segregated Ballast Tanks
• The segregated ballast tanks (SBT) are dedicated tanks constructed for the sole purpose of
carrying ballast water on oil tanker ships. They are completely separated from the cargo,
and fuel tanks and only ballast pumps are used in the SBT.
• The Segregated ballast tanks avoid any chances of mixing oil and water which usually
happens when cargo holds are used to carry ballast water.
•
• Clean Ballast Tanks (CBT)
• The oil tankers may travel without carrying cargo in its holds which may lead to stability
issues. Especially in bad weather. Hence, the cargo holds which carried oil in the last voyage
are cleaned and then filled with clean ballast water.
• During the discharge of ballast water, an oil content monitor control is used and the only
effluent which is <15ppm is discharged overboard, and rest is transferred to the slop tanks.
Reproduces the construction sketch of a ballast tank Identifies the parts in the
ballast tanks which are most likely to experience corrosion
• Corrosion in Ballast Tanks is the deterioration process where the
surface of a ballast tank progresses from microblistering, to
hydroscaletric electration, and finally to cracking of the tank steel itself.
• “Effective corrosion control in segregated water ballast spaces is
probably the single most important feature, next to the integrity of the
initial design, in determining the ship’s effective life span and structural
reliability,” as said by Germanischer Lloyd's Principal surveyor.
• Throughout the years the merchant fleet has become increasingly
aware of the importance of avoiding corrosion in ballast tanks
Regions of a ballast tank
• Ballast tanks do not corrode uniformly throughout the tank. Each region behaves distinctively,
according to it electrochemical loading. The differences can especially be seen in empty
ballast tanks. The upper sections usually corrode but the lower sections will blister.
• A ballast tank has three distinct sections: 1) upper, 2) mid or "boottop" area and, 3) the
"double bottom" or lower wing sections. The upper regions are constantly affected by
weather. This area experiences a high degree of thermal cycling and mechanical damage
through vibration. This area tends to undergo anodic oxidation more rapidly than other
sections and will weaken more rapidly. This ullage or headspace area contains more oxygen
and thus speeds atmospheric corrosion, as evidenced by the appearance of rust scales.
• In the midsection corrodes more slowly than upper or the bottom sections of the tank.
• Double bottoms are prone to cathodic blistering. Temperatures in this area are much lower
due to the cooling of the sea. If this extremely cathodic region is placed close to an anodic
source (e.g. a corroding ballast pipe), cathodic blistering may occur especially where the epoxy
coating is relatively new. Mud retained in ballast water can lead to microbial corrosion.
• Image showing Parts of a typical Bulk carrier Cargo Hold and Tanks
• General corrosion appears to be as non-protected oxidation that tends to crop up
homogeneously on internal surfaces of the holds or tanks which have been left uncoated. The
corroded scale frequently breaks off, revealing the bare metal, which is susceptible to
corrosive attack.
• In tanks and holds that have been coated, corrosion starts affecting the moment the coating
starts breaking down. Determining thickness reduction in the steel plates is difficult unless
excessive shrinking has occurred.
• For example, corrosion on the inner surfaces of the liquid cargo tanks (example, Crude Oil
Tankers) is mainly due to the mixture of corrosive gases, crude oil acids, as well as seawater
(Crude oil washing).
• This along with the fluctuations in temperatures within the tanks and structural flexing, over
a period of time, shrinks the thickness of the steel plating and associated supports, ultimately
leading to failure of the steel structure.
• BALLAST TANKS
• Some ships, especially large cargo ships and oil tankers have ballast tanks, which are used to
change the weight distribution of the ship, or to change its draft, in order to optimise stability.
Ballast tanks being filled with water, often sea water, are very prone to corrosion.
• Ballast tanks do not corrode uniformly: The upper part, which forms an empty headspace, even
when the tank is full, undergoes thermal cycling (due to ambient temperature changes), contains
much oxygen and is affected by vibration – corrosion easily takes a foothold. The bottom part,
which is often immersed in water is prone to the accumulation of marine microorganisms coming
from the seawater pumped into the tanks. Also, when emptied, a thin and salty electro-
conducting moisture film remains on the surface. Both of these phenomena cause corrosion.
• Modern double hull tankers, with fully segregated ballast tanks suffer from an additional
vulnerability: An empty tank acts as insulation from the cold sea, allowing the warm cargo areas
to retain their heat longer. Since corrosion rate increases with temperature differences, the cargo
side of the ballast tank corrodes more quickly than it would in a conventional configuration.
• Ships tanks needed periodic inspection for general integrity, corrosion
status as well as the monitoring of the anodes. Tanks under the
jurisdiction of the Deck Department shall in principle, be inspected by
Chief Officer and those under the jurisdiction of the Engine
department, by a responsible Engineer. Additionally inspections may
also be carried out by Superintendents or Surveyors for ascertaining
condition of tank internals. Checking for Damages / Cracks /
Deformations – Adequate lighting in the tanks is necessary for the
inspection work and for identifying deformations or surface dents.
Shadows are one of the best indicators to highlight any buckling or
cracks within the tanks.
• Blister formation is a common sight in areas where the surface preparation is
inadequate prior to application of paint coats or for some reason the coating failed
to adhere to the surface. The officer must be on a lookout for these unwary bumps
on the tank surfaces that may act as an alibi to the mounting decay underneath.
• Careful examination should be carried out in areas such as – in the vicinity of
sounding pipes and striker plates, openings for the air vents and tank gauging,
internal piping including expansion joints, dressor coupling and related fittings /
joints / clamps, near the operational valves within the tanks, bilges and tank top
areas, underside of hatch coamings / tank openings, bulkheads in general, joints
associated with girders, web frames, etc.
• Pitting Corrosion is often known to be observed in the bottom plating of ballast
tanks especially near the ‘bell-mouth’, near the ‘bell-mouth’ in a liquid cargo tank,
or next to suction wells associated with the submerged pumps fitted within the
tanks.
• Pitting Corrosion begins mostly with the local breakdown of the coatings, exposing
the bare metal, and thereby getting accentuated by oxidation and galvanic reactions
in the area.
• Lists the period of interval for the inspection of ballast tanks
•
• Ballast Tank Inspection:
• The ships’ officer must know the following conditions which need to be regularly
inspected inside the ballast tank of the ship:
•
• Corrosion for Ballast Tanks
• The extent of corrosion inside tank surface should be noted, and localised corrosion
should be marked appropriately. If the corrosion wastes of the tank surface exceed 75%
of the allowable margin, repair such as renewal of hull structural to be carried out.
•
• Coating Condition:
• Coating plays an important role in ship ballast water tank surface protection
hence proper inspection of coating to be performed. Visible failure of the
coating to be noted along with rusting of tank surface especially on the weld
lines and edges of the tanks.
• The tank structure to be inspected for cracks or buckling. The strengthening
arrangement to be checked for bent or cracks and same to be repaired at the
next possible opportunity.
• The history of the ships (previous inspection records) plays a critical role in the
current inspection method followed and even records of sister vessel can be
used to decide for repair, if needed, followed by a survey and pressure testing
of the ballast tank post repairs.
• Recommended Tank inspection intervals

Unified understanding of tank inspection and recording procedures will enable

effective monitoring of hull condition and initiate proper maintenance activities
where necessary. Tank inspection intervals to be followed on board are as per the
vessels Planned Maintenance System. In principle the intervals should be as
follows:
•
• Water Ballast Tanks (Tankers & Gas Carriers) : At least once every 12 months
• Water Ballast Tanks (Container Ships) : At least once every 12 months
• Fresh Water Tanks : At least once every year
• Void Spaces / Cofferdam : At least once every year
• Contractor’s service report, Repair completion report by Dock yard
can be accommodated in Ship’s Inspection Report. Adjacent Cargo
tank structures such as Bulk heads, suction wells etc, should be
checked from Water ballast tank side. Visual check from Under cross
deck and Upper deck, and/or during bilge sounding should be carried
out every opportunity. Pressure testing for Heating steam lines for
Fuel Oil Tanks, which are penetrated in Cargo Hold of Container Ship
should be carried out 30 months interval, if necessary.
•
• Describes the corrosion prevention methods for ballast tanks
•
• Ballast Tank Protection
• The ballast tank is filled with seawater, which is highly corrosive in nature. When the tank is empty, the
dampen atmosphere will also increase the corrosion attack on the ballast tank surface.
• Corrosion is a major problem on ships. Following methods are used for protection against corrosion:
•
• Tank Coating:
• Coating in the tank surface is the most common protection system used on the ship. The advantage of
the coating is that it protects the entire tank at a time and if the right quality of coating is applied, the
ballast tank can work without any problem for a long period. It is the layer of the coating which protects
the seawater to come in contact with the steel of the tank.
• The coating dry film thickness can be as thin as 300 microns. The most common type of coating used is;
heavy-duty dual-component epoxy coating.
• Anode:
• Use of sacrificial anodes is very popular inside the tanks to control the
corrosion. Zinc, aluminium and their alloys with other metals such as
tin are a popular choice of anodes used onboard.
• Magnesium anodes are not to be used in the ship ballast water tanks
as they tend to generate hydrogen, while in operation, which can
have deleterious effects on some ballast tank coatings.
• Aluminium anodes are not used in oil tankers as they are prone to
spark hazard if dropped from significant heights.
• Controlled Atmosphere:
• If the atmosphere of the ballast tank can be controlled to reduce the
oxygen content, the corrosion rate decreases drastically. This system
is known as oxygen stripping which is done by introducing inert gas to
maintain the oxygen level in the tank below 4%.
• This system is used with the tank with a protective coating and even
with anodes fitted tanks (to extend the life of sacrificial anodes). It
reduces the corrosion to as much as 84%.
• The advantages of this system is:
• Decrease the coating maintenance and steel renewal
• Increases the life of anodes
• Reduces life cycle costs of ballast tank maintenance
•
• Corrosion for Ballast Tanks
• The extent of corrosion inside tank surface should be noted, and
localised corrosion should be marked appropriately. If the corrosion
wastes of the tank surface exceed 75% of the allowable margin, repair
such as renewal of hull structural to be carried out.
• Coating Condition:
• Coating plays an important role in ship ballast water tank surface protection
hence proper inspection of coating to be performed. Visible failure of the
coating to be noted along with rusting of tank surface especially on the weld
lines and edges of the tanks.
• The tank structure to be inspected for cracks or buckling. The strengthening
arrangement to be checked for bent or cracks and same to be repaired at the
next possible opportunity.
• The history of the ships (previous inspection records) plays a critical role in the
current inspection method followed and even records of sister vessel can be
used to decide for repair, if needed, followed by a survey and pressure testing
of the ballast tank post repairs.
• Corrosion monitoring system
• Ballast tanks and crude cargo tanks are continuously exposed to corrosive
environment. Typically, ballast condition is worst in terms of corrosion
damage, particularly in empty or partially filled conditions. Cathodic
protection or coatings are commonly adopted for protecting structures
from corrosive environment.
• Problems are due to improperly designed, applied, and maintained
corrosion systems, and incompatibilities between structural
and corrosion protection systems, such as flexible bulkhead covered with
stiff coatings and corrosion cells set up between the parent materials and
the weld heat affected zone (HAZ) region resulting in grooving corrosion.
• Coating and coating inspection
• The application of coatings to water ballast tanks and cargo tanks is the primary means
of corrosion protection for ships and is recognized as one of the most important factors
affecting integrity, maintenance cost and service life. Coatings serve mainly to minimize
the corrosion rate, thereby potentially delaying the utilization of the built-in corrosion
margins included in a vessel's structural scantlings.
• In recent years, there has been an increased industry focus on the consequences of
corrosion and an increased demand for better performance from the coatings used for
corrosion control. The recently introduced IMO Performance Standards for Protective
Coatings (IMO 2006), or IMO PSPC, specify requirements for coating certification,
surface preparation, coating application, inspection and measurements and the
creation of a coating technical file to document each step of the process.
•
• Protective Coatings for Dedicated Seawater Ballast Tanks in all Types
of Ships and Double-side Skin Spaces of Bulk Carriers
• SOLAS II-1/A-1/3-2, amended by IMO Resolution MSC.216(82),
requires all dedicated seawater ballast tanks in all types of ships and
double-side skin spaces of bulk carriers to comply with IMO
Resolution MSC.215(82)—PSPC for Dedicated Seawater Ballast Tanks
(SWBT) in all Types of Ships and Double-side Skin Spaces of Bulk
Carriers (IMO PSPC-SWBT). Fig. 25.3 shows an example from a crude-
oil tanker for IMO PSPC-SWBT spaces.
• Aluminium sacrificial anodes are used for corrosion protection of various marine structures,
components and systems, such as offshore platforms, ship hulls or ballast tanks to cite but a
few. The Al-Zn-In alloy and Zn are the most widely used sacrificial materials and their open-
circuit potentials range from −1 V vs Ag–AgCl for Zn anodes to −1.1 V vs Ag-AgCl for Al-Zn-In.
The recent development of high-performance marine structures has led to the use of new
materials with high mechanical properties but with an increased susceptibility to stress
corrosion cracking or hydrogen embrittlement when excessively electronegative potentials
are encountered.
• In the 1990, DGA (Délégation Générale pour l'Armement) and DCN studied a new cathodic
protection system and pursued the development of a low-voltage anode for use in cathodic
protection of high-strength steels [1]. Determination of the cathodic protection criteria was
first performed and indicated that applied potentials on Ni-alloyed and C-Mn steels between
−0.730 and −0.850 V vs Ag-AgCl provided both acceptable Stress Corrosion Cracking (SCC)
resistance and uniform corrosion rates, as well as protection against potential galvanic
couplings.