Research on the Use of Oil Tankers' Return Space for Transport of Fresh Water

The idea of the use of oil tankers' return space for transport of fresh water between Middle East and oil consuming areas is not a new one, but the idea has not been realized yet. The situation has been improved in consequence of the recent amendments to the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL 73/78) in such that the provision of segregated ballast tanks (SBT) and crude oil washing (COW) system have become mandatory for new tankers or COW system for existing tankers with a brighter outlook on viability of the carriage of fresh water by oil tankers in lesser oil content than ever. Nippon Kaiji Kyokai organized a special research committee to investigate the problem of optimum matching between purely technical requirements and those laid down in MARPOL 73/78. The followings is the outline of the findings of this committee.