LNG Tanker Operations (Membrane)

About this course

This five-day course utilises the ClassNK approved Liquid Cargo and Ballast Handling Simulator in our Maritime Simulation Centre - one of the UK's largest ship and port simulation centres.

It commences with the vessel having left the shipyard with cargo tanks containing only dry air and follows a voyage cycle during the week. This includes initial inerting of interbarrier spaces and cargo tanks and pipelines, gassing up of cargo tanks and lines, cooling down, loading, gas burning on a loaded voyage, discharge (with or without shore vapour return), cargo tank management on a ballast voyage and the pre-docking operations to gas free the vessel.  

Each operation is preceded with a briefing to discuss the operation and equipment to be used. The detail and level of demonstration prior to conducting the operation is varied depending on delegate experience.  

Each operation concludes with a debriefing where delegates discuss their experience with the instructor to consolidate their learning experience. 

The course is compliant with IMO Model Course 1.36.

The ship 

• 217,000 m³ LNG carrier with 5 GTT NO96 membrane tanks, and steam propulsion system 
• Two cargo pumps, a spray pump and emergency pump trunking per cargo tank 
• Two high duty compressors 
• Two low duty compressors 
• One low duty heater 
• One high duty heater 
• One LNG vaporiser 
• One forcing vaporiser 
• Three electric driven ballast pumps serving 10 ballast tanks 
• Fixed gas detection system 
• Portable gas detection system 
• Interbarrier space nitrogen system and controllers 
• Cofferdam heating system 

Please note, we currently offer two other LNG simulator courses in addition to the LNG Tanker Operations (Membrane) course:

• The LNG Cargo Operations – Management Level (SIGTTO) course is best suited to those who already have some LNG experience and follows the syllabus set out by SIGTTO in their suggested LNG competence standard (third edition 2021) at the management level. It follows the same drydock to drydock voyage cycle as the LNG Tanker Operations (Membrane) course but includes a wider range of subjects as set out in the SIGTTO syllabus. 
• The LNG Tanker Operations (Spherical) course is open to anyone and is suitable for those with little or no LNG experience, or those with more experience who require greater underpinning knowledge and experience of all cargo operations. It covers all the cargo operations in a normal drydock to drydock voyage cycle while focusing on vessels with spherical tanks.