China puts stamp on tanks

China puts stamp on tanks

By Chris Gillis

      China is rapidly reaping the benefits from containerized bulk liquid transport technology that had taken European and U.S. companies more than three decades to perfect.
      That's the fundamental conclusion of a recent study conducted by the Shanghai Maritime University and sponsored by the International Tank Container Organization.
      'The tanks manufactured by major factories, for both domestic and export use in China, are based on the latest designs available,' said Graham Wood, president of Davlis Ltd., a consulting and inspection firm specializing in tank containers.
      'The design of tank containers, after a period of 30-plus years of development, is now mature,' he said. 'Designs which were less successful have gradually been phased out and strong structural similarities now exist between the remaining tank designs wherever they are manufactured.'

Wood

      The tank container is designed to fit into a conventional 20-foot dry container frame and facilitates the annual transport of many hundreds of thousands of gallons of bulk liquid chemicals for manufacturing and food and beverage commodities, such as additives, wines and spirits, and vegetable oils.
      'Compared with traditional modes of transport, using tank containers has many obvious advantages such as small investment, great payload, low fee and complying with international standards,' wrote Bingliang Song, who led the Shanghai Maritime University's study. 'Tank containers require loading and unloading only once and remain sealed until arrival at the final destination, significantly reducing transport time, labor and handling costs.'
      The study, Safe Handling of Tank Containers in China, included four sets of questionnaires covering operators, shippers, container manufacturers and government departments involved in various operations and administration of tank containers. The questions covered technical and institutional constraints of tank containers, emergency response, handling methods, infrastructure availability, existing rules and regulations.
      Data and information were collected from nine operators, eight shippers, three manufacturers and six government branches, including Shanghai Municipal Transport and Port Authority, Shanghai Maritime Safety Administration, and Shanghai Railway Bureau. There were also numerous follow-up questions to clarify and increase the understanding of some entities' viewpoints.
      China has become the largest producer of tank containers, as the manufacturing has shifted from Europe and South Africa in the past decade. CIMC and Singamas in China are the world's largest tank container makers.
      Chinese tank container manufacturers purchased their designs from Europe. 'Their tanks are as good as any in the western world,' said Reginald Lee, ITCO president, in an interview.


Reginal Lee president, ITCO
'Their tanks are as good as any in the western world.'

      According to ITCO, design and safety standards of tank containers are covered by the International Maritime Organization, the United Nations Recommendations on the Transport of Dangerous Goods, Convention for Safe Containers, American Association of Mechanical Engineers' pressure valve codes, and International Standards Organization.
      'These standards must be applied wherever the tanks are manufactured,' Wood said. 'Chinese government officials are active participants on these committees.'
      ITCO estimates there are about 150,000 ISO tanks, each at a cost of $17,000 to $25,000, engaged in the international deep-sea trades. While China has become a tank container manufacturing leader, its use of them in commercial transport is still in its infancy. Some analysts put the number of tank containers used in China at 4,000 to 6,000 units.
      'It is difficult to estimate the number of tank containers in use in China. Tanks are used for both domestic and international transport,' Wood said. 'However, it can be said that their use has increased rapidly over the last four years.'
      The Shanghai Maritime University study found that while China's tank container industry operates relatively safely, it warned that 'consistency with international conventions for tank container operations is declining more or less when the sector moves from ocean to river transport, from international to domestic service.'
      ITCO noted that many Chinese domestic moves by ISO tank containers are done over the road with standard 20-foot dry container chassis, whereas in Europe and the United States tank containers are transported on 'step-down' or 'lowboy' chassis. A 20-foot tank container can carry 24,000 to 25,000 liters depending on the road weight restrictions and density of the product carried.
      'It's about center of gravity when you have a moving liquid shipment,' Lee said. 'A normal 20-foot chassis rides two feet higher than a step-down chassis. The lower the tank container is to the ground, the better your center of gravity.
      'We have brought this to the Chinese tank container industry's attention,' he added. 'They should definitely be looking at this.'
The Shanghai Maritime University study said the Chinese railways should be more open to the possibility of transporting ISO tank containers.
      'Chinese railways seem to be the most closed industry for tank container operators to use the infrastructure. So far, shipper-owned tank containers with dangerous goods are rarely allowed into the rail networks yet,' the study said. 'Carrier-owned tank cars are still the busiest modes to transport hazardous liquids on rails.'
      The study also found that China must do a better job to ensure that tank container rules and regulations promulgated at the national level in Beijing aren't diluted as they're interpreted and applied at the provincial and municipal government levels.
      In addition, the study said the Chinese government should do more to promote the country's tank container logistics industry's potential.
      'As China is becoming a major chemical producer and user in the world, more and more multinational and local private logistics operators will set up their tank container depots in China, especially in the fast-developing east coastal region,' the Shanghai Maritime University study said. 'With strong financial support, technical expertise, safety priority and consciousness of environmental protection, multinational operators score better thanks to their heavily invested facilities and effective management.'

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