Skip to main content

Tag: Shipping

Fuel exports suspended following drone attacks

Ukraine has mounted several strikes on the Russian Black Sea port of Tuapse, hitting oil infrastructure with airborne and seagoing drones and missiles. Tuapse is a tanker loading terminal, one of two main oil export facilities on Russia’s Black Sea coast, with the capacity to transship around 17 million t/a of oil products. A raid on November 2nd reportedly damaged two tankers, halted fuel exports and refinery operations for days, caused an oil spill and forced tankers to abandon the port. Russia’s national rail company has halted rail shipments to Tuapse port, citing insufficient train car handling capacity.

Study on ammonia fuel storage tanks and transportation equipment

Shipping classification society ClassNK has formed a consortium with IHI Corporation, JFE Steel, Tohoku University, and Institute of Science Tokyo to participate in Japan’s Feasibility Study Program on Energy and New Environmental Technology. The consortium will promote the development of stress corrosion cracking (SCC) probability evaluation tools for fuel ammonia storage tanks and transportation equipment. Initially, the consortium will conduct a detailed study of the SCC mechanism involved in steel cracking due to the combined effects of mechanical stress and corrosion caused by liquid ammonia. Thereafter, the consortium plans to develop tools for easily and accurately assessing SCC probability. Finally, opinions will be solicited from stakeholders to formulate risk-based maintenance procedures for fuel ammonia storage and transportation facilities, and marine fuel tanks ultimately to promote the expanded use of fuel ammonia.