Los tanques del Catalunya

Como muchos sabréis, hace un año se descubrió un problema en los tanques del Catalunya Spirit cuando estuvo en El Ferrol en
astillero. Aquí os dejo la nota de prensa más recientemente publicada sobre la investigación que se está llevando sobre la
avería:

Teekay discloses sloshing findings

The containment-system damage on an LNG ship has been traced back to a voyage made in late 2005.

Teekay Shipping has unveiled the findings of its investigation into sloshing damage on one of its LNG carriers that it hopes
to share with the industry more fully in time.

Vice-president of Marine Technical Services Robert Hedley revealed details of a statement sent to the company's charterers
about the damage found on the 138,000-cbm LNG carrier Catalunya Spirit (built 2003) last May during a routine dry docking.

The investigation found that the sloshing damage, which occurs when tank-level fillingsgive opportunity for greater liquid
motion, was likely to have occurred on one voyage in November 2005 during which heavy weather was encountered while the ship
was carrying a small amount of cargo or heel for tank-chilling purposes.

Hedley says that while the cargo volume was at 10% of the tank length, the maximum permissible lower filling level specified
by containment-system designer Gaztransport&Technigaz (GTT), it was at 18% of the tank height. This was more than the levels
not exceeding 4% that the vessel had carried on all previous voyages to keep its tanks cooled after discharging.

Hedley explains the higher-than-normal level was because the storage at Boston's Everett LNG terminal, where the ship had
offloaded its LNG, was almost full and the facility's operators had asked that the ship leave the maximum amount of LNG
remaining in its tanks.

He describes the resulting damage as having occurred as a result of a "unique combination of circumstances".

Around 800 containment-system insulation boxes were removed during the damage-repair work to the Spanish-built Catalunya
Spirit , which is fitted with the GTT's NO-96 cargo-containment system. Damage was found in tanks two, three and four and,
while the tanks' membranes remained intact, indentations were visible on the covers of some boxes beneath the primary invar
layer. Others appeared intact but were found to have sustained damage. The nature and height of the indentations indicated
that sloshing was to blame.

After the sloshing damage was discovered, GTT issued a precautionary note recommending that operators of ships with NO-96
systems do not operate with cargoes exceeding 10% of the tank height without first consulting the design company. At the
moment, GTT says its note remains advisory but research on the subject is ongoing.

There has been much interest over the possible problems caused by sloshing in membrane-type LNG carriers, especially given
the increasing talk of trading, delivery of part-cargoes and storage situations at terminals.

The resulting tests and analyses of the damage to Teekay's ship have taken months to complete but Hedley says the company
wanted to be thorough in determining the cause. Talks over who is liable for the financial claims in the incident are still
ongoing.

Hedley adds that Teekay conducted its investigations into the damage on the ship separately but in parallel with probes that
were carried out by GTT and the vessel's classification society, Lloyd's Register (LR).

"Teekay, GTT and LR recognise that such occurrences create opportunities to learn and it is their intention that the
collective findings of their parallel investigation will be used for the benefit of the marine industry," Hedley concluded.