What is the latest amendment with respect to tank coating on oil tankers ?

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Following incidents resulting from structural failure in oil tankers, the IMO developed requirements aimed at inhibiting
corrosion in cargo oil tanks by way of performance standards. These performance standards are now being made
mandatory by an amendment to SOLAS: regulation II-1/3-11, Corrosion Protection of Cargo Oil Tanks of Crude Oil Tankers,
adopted by Resolution MSC.291(87).
The legislation applies to new crude oil tankers of 5,000 dwt or above engaged on international voyages as follows:
• Contract date: 1 January, 2013
• Keel laying date: 1 July, 2013
• Delivery date: 1 January, 2016

The regulations provide three options to address the corrosion protection in these areas
Option 1 – Coating
The first option requires the coating of cargo oil tanks during the construction of the ship in accordance with the
‘Performance Standard for Protective Coatings for Cargo Oil Tanks of Crude Oil Tankers’
Option 2 – Alternative means: Corrosion-resistant steel
The second option allows cargo oil tanks to be protected by what the regulation refers to as “alternative means”. One such
example is the use of “corrosion-resistant” steels which have the goal of maintaining the required structural integrity for 25 years
Option 3 – Exemption
The regulations allow a third option, in which a vessel’s flag state may choose to exempt a crude oil tanker from the
requirements described in option 1 and option 2, if the vessel is built solely to carry cargoes or perform cargo handling
operations with cargoes which do not cause corrosion

Where the cargo oil tanks are coated or protected by the use of corrosion-resistant steels in accordance with the IMO
regulations, Lloyd’s Register’s verification shall be indicated by the class notation ShipRight ACS(C), where ACS denotes
anti-corrosion system and C denotes cargo oil tanks.

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Areas to be protected.
1) Deckhead with complete internal structure, including brackets connecting to longitudinal and transverse
bulkheads. In tanks with ring frame girder construction the underdeck transverse framing to be protected
down to level of the first tripping bracket below the upper faceplate.
2) Longitudinal and transverse bulkheads to be protected to the uppermost means of access level. The uppermost
means of access and its supporting brackets to be fully protected.
3) On cargo tank bulkheads without an uppermost means of access the protection to extend to 10% of the
tank’s height at centreline but need not extend more than 3 m down from the deck.
4) Flat inner bottom and all structure to height of 0.3 m above inner bottom to be protected.