How exactly does a oil tanker work？What are the subtle designs inside？

An oil tanker is swaying from side to side in the sea storms and the rough waters even flooded the deck at one point. With the ship rocking so much, could the tens of thousands of tons of oil in the cargo hold make the rocking even worse and cause the ship to capsize? In this article, we will explore how tankers work and are internally stabilized.

How do oil tanker work?

First the piping system on deck for loading and unloading various resources such as oil, water and gas, and cranes for transporting heavy equipment on and off the ship.

As for the mast risers next to the pipes, they are connected to the cargo hold below and are designed to release the pressure built up during the loading and unloading of oil in the cargo hold. The white accommodation area at the stern is where the crew stay, eat and sleep, and at the bottom of the stern is the propeller connected to the main engine, which provides the power for the whole ship to move forward; while the rest is the main cabin section.

If fully loaded, its tanks can hold 560,000 tons of oil. But the crude oil is liquid state, once encountered wind and waves, oil in the tank left and right movement, by the inertia and the free liquid effect, the tank liquid from one side to the other, and constantly increase the amplitude of the movement; when this movement of the hull of one side of the impact is too large, it will make the ship from the side of the capsize.

How is the inside of oil tanker stabilized?

The fuel tank, which was originally a large whole, was now set up into several compartments, with the fuel being placed in pieces;

Although the ship will still sway with the hull, but under the blockage of the bulkhead, the side potential energy is greatly weakened, the impact is reduced, and the ship will be more stable accordingly.

And in order to prevent oil leakage due to accidental impact during tanker transportation, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) stipulated in November 1991 that newly-built tankers must have a double-hulled or mid-level horizontal septum structure, which is located at the bottom of the cargo tanks and on both sides of the oil tanker.

The double hull design not only prevents or reduces oil contamination due to ship breakage, but the space between the hull and the oil and cargo tanks can also be used as a ballast water tank to increase the weight of the ship to resist buoyancy when the hull is not filled with oil.

Oil tankers play an important role in the global energy market as the main tool for transportation of oil products. Qinhai Shipyard build large and high-performance ocean-going vessels such as oil tankers, bulk carriers, container ships, general cargo ships and LCT barges. In short, our shipyard is a dynamic and creative team. We believe that in the future development, we will continue to uphold the concept of "quality first, customer first", and contribute more to the global maritime industry. Let's work together to create a bright future!