Quarterly December 2008 - Odfjell

New and improved Requirements
and Guidelines Manual
By Frode Stornes
The Requirements
and Guidelines
Manual (RGM) is
Odfjell Tankers’
manual to ship
managers and ships
in which we describe
“how to operate when
in service for us”.
The fleet consists of a mixture of
owned and in-chartered ships as well
as ships operated commercially on
pool basis, and all the vessels are
jointly providing services to our end
customers.
The manual may be put on the
same footing as the managers’
shipboard management systems
and manuals.
Distribution
The former RGM has been
available for Odfjell managed
ships and third party managers
for years. As a central element
in the revitalisation of the
RGM this year we wanted
to extend the distribution.
We wanted to encompass
the third party ships and
communicate directly with
all the masters as well.
Masters should have first
hand knowledge of our
expectation with regard
to safety, efficiency
and our operational
procedures. Trilateral
communication – between the
masters, ship managers and the ship
operators – based on one common
reference book, must be beneficial to
all the parties involved. The new and
improved RGM (July 2008) is therefore
distributed to all time-charter owners,
their managers as well as to the ships.
Odfjell managed ships access it from their
onboard systems and time-chartered
ships have received it by a CD-room.
Enhanced content
The content is restructured and
expanded by this revitalisation. The
former RGM was largely concentrated
on safety and equipment while
the new RGM provides information
and guidance about the organisation,
operational requirements and systems
as well as operational procedures.
We transferred many of the instruction
memos to the body text of the RGM.
Unwritten best practices are pinned
down, and QHSE is emphasised and
pointed out in separate and prioritised
chapters. Last but not least, it is
structured in logical chapters:
• Preface
• Introduction
• Quality
• HSE
• Cargo and Voyage
• Vessel
• Contingency
• Ship Forms
• Reference Documents
One central document is Safety
Elements/ Critical Operations in which
we set forth detailed and functional
requirements for the ship managers
and ships to adhere to. In documents
like Voyage Execution, Tank Cleaning
Management and Bunkers Planning
we set out requirements in addition to
sharing best practices and describing
systems and support function available
for successful execution of the voyages.
In the Bill of Lading document we give
clear and comprehensive instructions
to the masters how to do things right.
Yet in other documents we describe
various reporting routines. However
cumbersome, that of documenting
the voyages will never go out of style.
Our requirements as to contingency,
emergency preparedness as well
as Reporting and Notification of
Emergencies and Incidents are
described in detail. The last main
chapter is Ship Forms – the collection
of document templates the ships shall
use for reporting and documenting the
voyages.
Purpose
The superior purpose of the manual is
to ensure safe and efficient operations
of all the ships operated by Odfjell
Tankers. The RGM should be used as a
reference book onboard, as a reference
in the trilateral communication between
the master, the ship manager and the
ship operator, as well as a verification
“To have an easy
to understand,
structured and well
documented RGM
for our own fleet and
time chartered fleet
will clearly enhance
Odfjell Tankers
safety, quality, uniformity and
reliability as a professional service
provider”, says Sigmund Larsen,
Senior Vice President Ship Operation.
tool during ship visits, inspections and
audits.
Together with our ship inspections,
mainly targeting ships by third party
managements and furthermore
integrating the RGM, the RGM forms an
important element in our operational
management.
“Everybody working for Odfjell, ashore and onboard,
shall bear in mind that the consequences of substandard
performance often go far beyond monetary
damages. It may for instance affect the safety of
colleagues and damage customer relations. We feel
confident that your fulfilment of the standards set
forth in this Requirements and Guidelines Manual
will result in a strong and sufficient degree of safety,
consistent excellent service to our customers and will contribute
positively to Odfjell’s market position and image”, says Jan Hammer,
President / Chief Operating Officer of Odfjell Tankers AS in the preface
of the manual.
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