Safety grows with

understanding

William E. McConnaughey

IGNORANCE MAY BE BLISS but it certainly isn't safety, and especially in modern marine bulk dangerous cargo transportation. The rapid changes and increasing complexity of this dynamic field are making knowledge of safety and understanding of hazards take on new dimensions and importance. In fact, probably the most important job in dangerous cargo safety today is assuring that knowledge in the right form is in the right hands at the right time, knowledge which leads to understanding of hazards and to safety through proper designs and operating procedures.

All of us are aware that this is a period of change although probably few can really comprehend the magnitude of the changes which undoubtedly lie ahead. We can make only very uncertain predictions of what marine transportation will be like after concepts such as nuclear power, hydrofoils, hovercraft, submarine tankers, automation, etc., have

been thoroughly exploited. However, we can take a look at some of the changes already underway that affect safety in shipping bulk dangerous cargoes. One of the most important of these is the rapid growth in the amount of chemicals being shipped by water. The production of basic organic and inorganic chemicals has doubled in the last 10 years and, since 1958, it has grown at a rate which indicates a doubling in 7 years.

Growth of population in the United States is frequently referred to as "explosive"; the growth in production of petroleum products is even more so. We apparently are in only the early stages of a tremendous increase in the production and per capita use of chemicals. Since chemical manufacturing is now a major industry, expected percentage growth represents many tons of products, much of which will require transportation. Another observation is that chemicals can be expected to become an increasingly large percentage of all dangerous commodities transported in bulk since petroleum products comprise largest single class at present.

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However, from the standpoint of safety and the need for knowledge, variety of commodities is as important as volume. Growth and economic success in the highly competitive chemical industry are based on research aimed at finding new products and new processes to make large-scale production of laboratory chemicals economically feasible. Chemical producers spend more of their own money on R. & D. than any other industry and at a rate which is well over twice the general industrial average. The intensity of this drive to be first on the market with a new or cheaper product is indicated by the fact that over 500 new or improved chemicals are introduced each year and also by the fact that over half of the products sold today have been introduced since 1939. As a result, we can expect the great growth in volume of chemicals transported in the future to be accompanied by a great growth in variety, a situation which clearly indicates the need for a new scope of knowledge and understanding of hazards by all concerned with transportation.

In 1964 alone, some 426 industrial facilities were built, expanded or planned along inland navigation channels and, of these, 116 were chemical or petroleum plants. Thus,

One of the characteristics of the chemical industry which is of special interest to the Coast Guard is its water orientation. Almost without exception, new chemical plants are built on navigable waterways to obtain needed process and cooling water and to obtain the economic benefits of low-cost water transportation.

much of the expected increases in volume and variety of bulk dangerous cargoes can be expected to be seen in water transportation.

There is another possible development which could have a sizable effect on the amount of chemicals moved by ship in U.S. waters. This is the foreign trade subzone concept which appears to have a good chance of more widespread use. Under this system, designated chemical plants are operated in the United States using foreign feedstocks brought in by ship without import duty or restriction and the chemical products are then freely moved by ship without export restrictions. An essential element of this procedure is water transportation and, if this procedure becomes common, it will further accelerate the growth in bulk shipment of chemicals.

Thus, for several reasons we can look forward to sizable increases in the amount and variety of chemicals shipped in bulk in the future. The significance, of course, is that a much broader knowledge of commodity properties and hazards will be necessary in the marine industry than has been the case in the past.

Actually, these remarks are not referring to some abrupt occurrence in the future; bulk chemical transportation is already increasingly evident on the water. Ships carrying several chemicals at once are no longer rare, although they may escape notice because they look like conventional petroleum tankers. These are the so-called drug store tankers whose function is to carry a wide variety of cargoes and whose keyword is "flexibility." You may have noticed the advertisements by a foreign flag operator that say "we carry any cargoso long as it is liquid". One company

alone has increased the number of such ships in its fleet from 5 to 16 in the last 3 years. United States coastal tankers carrying diverse cargoes such as caustic soda, styrene, carbon tetrachloride, and ethylene glycol are typical. Their facilities include such features as ventilation air dryers, nickel clad tanks and pumps, vent line desicators, and insulated and heated tanks.

Obviously, safe design and operation of this type of ship requires a more extensive understanding of commodity properties and hazards than does a conventional petroleum tanker. Liquefied gases at low temperatures, as well as a variety of true liquids, are carried in integral and deck tanks. Facilities include inert gas generators, vapor compression and indirect cargo cooling equipment, centralized cargo transfer controls, etc. The initial proposal called for carrying ethylene oxide, propane, anhydrous ammonia, and styrene but already at least 22 other chemicals have been proposed. The breadth of knowledge required to understand the cargo hazards involved in operating this ship is truly impressive and it includes comprehension of such things as thermal stability, cargo compatibility, toxicity, catalysis, and polymeric reactions.

Bulk chemical transportation is increasingly evident on the rivers, too. A molten sulfur tow over 1,000 feet long and containing 9,200 tons of cargo is no longer rare. Each barge has its own unmanned boilerroom for heating and circulating heat transfer fluid to maintain the cargo at 260270° F. Undoubtedly, the fastest growing chemical on the river these days is anhydrous ammonia. This commodity is carried as a refrigerated, liquefied gas. Cooling is provided by vapor compression refrigeration equipment. These examples really only indicate things to come. We can expect the present trend toward converting solids and gases into liquids for transportation and storage to grow and cargo temperatures will range farther and farther from ambient. On the high side, molten aluminum at over 1,200° F. appears to be a possible future cargo and, on the low side, liquid hydrogen at -423 F. is making its debut on the water in barges. There are many economic advantages in handling gases as low temperature liquids and there is rapid

growth of interest in this practice. Cryogenic gases are the extremely cold ones which boil below -135° F. but there is equal interest in the somewhat warmer gases which are still cold enough to create new problems in containment and casualty control.

One of the important elements of changing conditions is population. Projected increases in the number of people in the United States and the world are truly awe-inspiring, almost impossible to comprehend. Effects will be felt in all areas and this will include water transportation. Obviously, more people means more congestion on and around waterways which, in turn, increases the possibility of accidents involving dangerous cargoes and the potential seriousness of their effects. Less obviously, however, more people means much greater concern with the conservation of our water and air resources. Each type of user-sportsman, marine transporter, industrial consumer, etc.-will have to consider more and more the interests of others and to understand the technical nature of these interests. Pollution to the marine industry has traditionally meant oil but, in the future, it will be necessary to understand the consequences of introducing any material into the air or water. One example of the

growing concern over water pollution, is evidenced by the deployment of a State of West Virginia surveillance boat which monitors water quality in the Kanawha River near Charleston, W. Va. While this activity is not directed primarily at transportation as a source of contamination, it is certainly included. Air is also being increasingly monitored for pollution levels and sources and there is little doubt that release of cargo vapors in water transportation by venting, gas-freeing, spills, etc. will attract closer attention in the future. A new type of knowledge will be necessary both in the design and the operation of vessels engaged in the transportation of bulk quantities by water if these pollution aspects are to be approached intelligently.

From this, it is evident that the Coast Guard feels that the transportation of bulk dangerous cargoes is in the early stages of a period of rapid change and that we are convinced that a broader understanding of hazards will be essential in all phases of marine transportation in the future. The logical question then is what are we doing to promote safety through understanding and to keep our regulations in step with changing times? Before answering this with a discussion of some of our current and re

cent activities, let me say a word about a couple of elements of our regulatory philosophy. First, we believe very strongly in a preventive approach rather than a corrective approach and we expend considerable effort in predicting hazards without waiting for them to become casualty statistics. Of course, we study the past for its lessons, too, but constantly changing cargoes and conditions as well as the potential magnitude of casualties involving modern chemicals make statistical studies only one of the tools to be applied. We can't afford even one more Texas City disaster or Sulphur Queen disappearance or chlorine barge sinking if advance thinking and analysis can prevent it. Of course, it's extremely difficult to anticipate all the casualties which might occur with widely varying chemical cargoes but we believe much can be done by developing principles and fundamentals which can be used to evaluate and compare the hazards of commodities as they are proposed for bulk shipment.

Another element of our philosophy is that we should draw on many outside sources for assistance but should also maintain a competent staff to evaluate the advice which thus becomes available. In other words, we