OCIMF progresses terminal audits

The Oil Companies’ International Maritime Forum (OCIMF) is preparing to launch the second leg of its Marine Terminal Information System (MTIS) by the end of the first quarter 2012. The System was rolled out this past October with the introduction of the first leg, the Marine Terminal Particulars Questionnaire (MTPQ) (HCB October 2011, page 57); the second of the four elements of MTIS is the Marine Terminal Management Self-Assessment (MTMSA). 

Speaking at an event in London last month to introduce the concepts to the European industry, Capt Bernard Lesegratin, OCIMF’s senior technical adviser, said this element of the System is “more significant than it looks”. To understand why it is necessary to go back and examine what OCIMF is trying to achieve with MTIS and how it all started.

OCIMF, which has 86 members from the global oil industry, has been successful in raising standards in tanker shipping through the application of its Ship Inspection Report (SIRE) programme and the Tanker Management and Self-Assessment (TMSA) guide. However, its members felt that these improvements were not being carried through to shoreside operations and that, indeed, some terminals were severely lacking in safety management and operational standards.

OCIMF started looking at the issue in late 2009. The aim of MTIS is to ensure that all marine terminals – of which there are more than 10,000 worldwide, including single buoy moorings – reach common high standards of safety and environmental protection. By obtaining more detailed information about terminals, it is also expected that there will be better matching of tankers and terminals.

Within a year of the project started, MTPQ was rolled out. OCIMF members have circulated the questionnaire to their own terminals and it is expected that full details of all member sites will be available by mid-2012. The questionnaire uses a standard format with standardised questions, which will make it easy to transmit information. It also ties in with the vessel particulars questionnaire, to help match tanker to terminal. The way the system is set up will allow terminals to attach their own booklets giving descriptions of their sites.

OCIMF members are being encouraged to distribute MTPQ to the third-party terminals they use, although there has as yet been little input from the independent sector. Lesegratin says OCIMF will be using “every forum possible” to promote the concept. Further promotion is likely to come from port authorities and OCIMF hears that Rotterdam and the UAE are already accepting MTIS information as evidence of good standards.

OCIMF’s technical adviser Anuj Gupta reveals that the MTPQ database is due to go live on April 3, 2012, by which point there should be sufficient data available to make it useful for shipowners, agents, brokers and other potential users.

The second element of MTIS, MTMSA, will replace the current Marine Terminal Baseline Criteria. It is based on the TMSA assessment format, using identified key performance indicators. The importance of this element of the overall programme is that it will assist terminal operators in assessing the effectiveness of their own management systems, including activities at the ship/shore interface. Proper use of MTMSA will contribute to continuous improvement in standards, OCIMF believes.

A very active working group is currently developing the Marine Terminal Operator Training System (MTOTS), which OCIMF is aiming to launch in 2013. This element of MTIS is intended to help OCIMF members develop or commission their own guidance and requirements on terminal operator training. It will update existing guidance provided by OCIMF and, for gas tankers and terminals, by the Society of International Gas Tanker and Terminal Operators (SIGTTO).

The final element is the Marine Terminal Assessor Accreditation Programme (MTAAP). Work is due to start later this year for introduction by the end of 2013. OCIMF is still looking at how this will be articulated, Lesegratin says.

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