Regardless of the introduction ten years in the past of laws prohibiting using asbestos supplies onboard ship, a big variety of current and newbuild vessels proceed to function programs and equipment containing the hazardous substance.
In response to maritime testing facility Maritec, which carried out asbestos surveys for IMO compliance between 2011 and 2020, greater than 55% of in-service vessels and 50% of all newbuilds had been discovered to include asbestos supplies.
John Rendi, Basic Supervisor, Environmental Providers, Maritec, stated: “Though newbuild ships are delivered with an asbestos free declaration, in lots of circumstances asbestos has been discovered onboard throughout subsequent surveys, or port state inspections.
“That is inserting shipowners in a really troublesome place. It will possibly result in fines and detentions together with the excessive value related to elimination. Extra importantly, if seafarers and shipyard staff are unknowingly dealing with asbestos then they’re liable to creating a respiratory sickness.”
Underneath SOLAS regulation II-1/3-5, asbestos is banned in all ships constructed after 2011. Ships constructed between 2002 and 2011 could have asbestos fitted however solely in sure specified areas (rotary vane compressors and thermal insulation >1000C, for instance).
If throughout an IHM survey asbestos is discovered onboard a ship constructed after 2002 (besides when permitted in sure equipment on ships constructed earlier than 2011), then it must be eliminated inside a interval of three years and changed with a non-asbestos equal. This substitute should not be tried by anybody aside from skilled and licensed professionals.
Asbestos sampling
“Many homeowners have found they’ve asbestos onboard following IHM audits and are anxious to deal with the issue,” stated Maritec Operations Supervisor Alvin Lee.
“I’d say nearly all of vessels in operation include asbestos, usually by means of spare components within the type of gaskets, pipe gaskets and valve packing. A ship might go away the yard freed from asbestos however discover itself taking spare components from nations the place both asbestos has not but been banned or the place enforcement is week. The issue could be very a lot a provide chain difficulty,” he stated.
Pipe flange gaskets, valve packing and elements in auxiliary equipment gear, equivalent to pumps, compressors, condensers, and oil purifiers, accounted for greater than 63% of all of the asbestos discovered on the vessels surveyed.
Different gear the place asbestos is usually discovered consists of warmth exchangers, economizers, boilers, and inert fuel programs.
Lee furthered that differing asbestos restrictions from nation to nation additional compounds the issue. For instance, the permissible threshold worth for asbestos in the USA is 1% whereas in France it’s zero. In Singapore it’s 0.1%.
“Nations don’t essentially share the identical requirements or asbestos restrictions. So, a gasket that’s categorized asbestos-free in Singapore or the US is probably not thought-about asbestos-free in, say Australia, New Zealand or France, the place the tolerance is greater in terms of permissible worth. It’s an enormous drawback,” he stated.
Maritec, a CTI Group firm, advises shipowners to undertake an preliminary ship inspection by a professional skilled to research the attainable presence of asbestos-containing supplies on board the ship and, if any are recognized, to find them and assess their situation.
The inspection ought to function the idea for establishing an efficient upkeep and monitoring programme for coping with the asbestos within the ship.
Supply: Maritec
