 The objective of the present document is to provide the workers of the chemical industry with the best practice recommendation that shall be taken into consideration at the time of the inerting process as well as during the future revisions of the associated legislation and chemical industry guidelines. It is directed towards anyone involved with chemical tankers - crew members, shore personnel, marine surveyors, charterers and inspectors, and others.
Though this booklet is not directed towards the other types of vessels, the greater part of the information contained in the document may be applicable to them, as well, in case the nitrogen is used. Today, it is expected that the use of N2 in the maritime industry will continue to increase, and this will definitely lead to the increase in the accidents that usually happen when the nitrogen is not handled properly.
We recognize that the implementation of the recommended practice might have an impact on the operational and commercial aspects of both ships, terminals, and the shipping industry as a whole, which, in turn, may cause the other changes to help mitigate such impacts. Have a look into this paper and you will have a lot of practical technical information that you will find useful.
 This publication is dedicated to the dry bulk carriers - the workhorses of the sea, as they are commonly called. These ships carry out the greater part of the transportation of commodities without which the life of the modern society would stop. The book was prepared by the recognized expert, Captain Isbester, who managed to put his operational experience into writing, and made this book a perfect source for ones who are willing to get the proper knowledge and skills required to run the modern bulk carriers in a safe and efficient manner.
The chapters of this book focus not only on the operational requirements applicable to the bulk carriers, but also the decision making processes that are so necessary if you want to make the operations successful. This approach is what separates our book from the other publications and provides its unique character. It was very difficult task to compile this publication but the efforts of the author resulted in a very easy to read and understand reference.
We would also recommend it for use as the training manual for the newcomers to the bulk fleet. In addition, it may be used both ashore, in the company, and on board, and will be of great value for the ship owners and operators, marine surveyors and consultants, lawyers and all other parties involved.
 We are introducing the completely revised and significantly updated release of the famous Thomas Stowage publication first published many years ago with the ultimate intention to provide quick yet comprehensive reference to the established practices of cargo handling as well as to the common procedures, taking into account the very latest developments in this area.
We would treat this book as the essential reading for ship agents and owners, operators of the cargo terminals at ports, marine insurers, claims departments; the book is also perfect for training purposes. The book is divided into five parts addressing safety, then techniques and systems, commodities, damage and claims, and, finally, the procedures. The appendixes at the end of the publication provide some supplementary information. The aim of the book, as declared by it's author, is to provide the first-hand advice on the properties and stowage of the so wide variety of the transported cargo.
However, it may also be used as a reference source by people not directly involved in the carriage of such cargoes. The thorough research performed by Robert Thomas reflects his professional expertise and great experience in this field and makes this book so useful for everyone dealing with cargo transportation.
 This publication belongs to the popular Standard Club series and addresses the container securing issues. The recent development of containerization was a major step forward in marine transportation of general cargo. In the meantime, it was predicted that the unit costs related to the container securing issues would fall and associated cargo damage would be almost eliminated. In the past, vessels used to transport containers that were stowed on hatch covers, using various lashing systems.
Those systems were proven effective in lashing containers on deck to the 3rd tier. Nowadays, the ships are much bigger and may carry the containers stacked up to the nine tiers. However, the lashing systems in use are only capable of lashing to the bottom of the containers in the third tier (or to the bottom of the 4th/5th tier ones in case the lashing bridge if there). Ship design has developed a lot but securing methods have not. Class society would usually approve a vessel for carriage of the containers as per the Cargo Securing Manual containing the instructions on securing.
The present booklet starts with the introduction followed by the instructions, do's and don'ts, overview of the lashing systems, safe working issues, ships, containers and their construction, basic principles of container stowage and lashing components etc.
 The sea trade has always played a significant role in both the business success of shipping companies and the welfare of the nations. The container storage yard is the geographical and operational centre of the container terminals in most seaports. As a result, it is very important and plays one of the major roles for the trade and transportation flows.
One of the very latest developments in the operations relating the storage of the containers is the implementation of the automated rail mounted gantry crane system offering the very dense stacking of the units and lower labour costs. This publication was written with the purpose to investigate if the operational performance of the above mentioned seaport container terminals is influenced by the design of the storage systems and find out to what exactly extent this performance is affected by the framework conditions at the terminal.
In addition, it is discussed the strategies applicable to the crane scheduling and stacking of the containers. The authors present a very detailed simulation model in order to compare the performance effects of some other storage designs as well as innovative planning strategies. This is a very useful and informative publication for people involved in storage and transportation of the shipping containers.
 The maritime container transportation has grown significantly in the last forty plus years. As a result of that, it become an important mode of the intercontinental cargo traffic. Container terminals always played a major role as the multimodal interfaces between land and sea transport. The dimensions of the container vessels have dramatically increased during the last decade, in order to benefit from the scale economy.
Some of the large container vessels may require thousands of lifts in a seaport cargo container terminal during a single call. Taking into account the fact that the container carrier involves huge capital investment as well as high daily operating costs, customer service is now a critical issue for the seaport terminals - as a results, so many terminals are making attempts to improve the throughput and reduce the turn-around time. The containerization is growing constantly, and the number of port terminals is increasing, correspondingly.
As it is meant by the name, the aim of this publication is to reflect the major latest developments and also to present the most important insights; in addition to that, the efforts were made by the authors to check the various successful solutions to the existing operational problems of the transportation systems and terminals.
 The cargo access equipment used on board vessels include hatch covers, ramps and elevators, doors (bow, stern and side) as well as movable decks, and all of them serve the purpose of facilitating the cargo loading and discharging operations. In total, the equipment listed above may account for about ten percent of the initial cost of the ship.
And, despite of the huge importance, which is enhanced by the developing Ro-Ro shipping, no decent publication n this matter has ever been released. In this publication, we are trying to deal with all aspects of shipboard cargo access, including the description of the basic equipment, design requirements, economic aspects of selection and operation of the cargo access equipment, ad, of course, performance in service issues. Some useful material relating to the weights and stowage requirements, has also been added to the contents of the book.
Apart from that, there is some background information included on vessel types and cargo handling techniques. Note that the authors did not confine it to MacGregor products - the material included was drawn from all over the world. Though the editors are not specialists in this sort of equipment, their experience in ship design and operation and their engineering background make this book very helpful and practical.
 The present practical publication belongs to the series of guides released by Lloyd's. It is intended to provide readers with valuable advice that will help them in preventing claims commonly arising during the marine transportation of steels - these would include careful handling of the steel cargo, instructions for correct stowage and due care of the cargo throughout the whole journey.
The publication is covering every single important aspect of the marine transportation and is also providing some tips on how to conduct the survey of the steel products carried on board ships. The readers will know how to prevent possible damages to the cargo, how better deal with the claims, get familiarized with the manufacture of different steel products including packaging requirements for each particular type of steel product.
They will also receive professional instructions and guidance on the loading, stowage, lashing, securing and ventilation as well as on conducting proper maintenance of the hatch covers and tank tops including corrosion problem. The cargo documentation has also been dealt with together with surveying and handling of any claims. An excellent guidebook that shall be readily available on board.
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