U.S. Coast Guard LNG Bunkering Field Notice

The U.S. Coast Guard Liquefied Gas Carrier National Center of Expertise recently released LGC NCOE Field Notice 01-2017 – Recommended Process for Analyzing Risk of Simultaneous Operations (SIMOPS) during Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) Bunkering. The notice can be found in PDF format here.

Field Notice 01-2017 contains recommendations for the marine industry and all Captains of the Port to consider when assessing the risks of LNG Simultaneous Operations (SIMOPS). It includes guidance on an optional, formal operational risk assessment, if the vessel operator chooses to conduct one.

SIMOPS is a term used to describe multiple operations occurring onboard vessels and in and around the marine transfer loading area of facilities. Examples of SIMOPS are described as passenger and crew embarkation/debarkation; loading ship’s stores; discharging wastes; loading or discharging consumables; ship maintenance and repairs, hull cleaning; and/or the unloading and loading of tour equipment while simultaneously transferring LNG fuel.