Identification of the functional limitation of marine loading or unloading arm; A case study

Marine loading or unloading arms are used to transfer product from tanker vessels that often carries products like petroleum or chemicals from or to the tankers. Cochin Port has dedicated Tanker jetties for handling petroleum with Marine Loading Arms installed for safe handling of cargo. However, my studies in Cochin Port Trust have shown that it has a potential threat to tackle while it is taken for the maintenance process. The case study aids in understanding of the working of marine unloading arm installed in the port and to identify the functional or safety limitations of the existing model installed. This case study also proves that a small change in the design can bring about a big change in the safety of the people working with the equipment. The identified parameters have been studied for providing the necessary alterations of the design which could be implemented on the upcoming project of constructing the marine unloading arm in Cochin Port Trust. To support faster and safety loading/unloading requirement these hydraulically operated marine loading arms are fitted with emergency release couplings and emergency release system. Marine Loading Arms are operated by using the hydraulic system. During maintenance procedure while checking the Emergency Release System (ERS) functionality, accidental release of Emergency release coupling can cause fatality. Hence a fool proof design is suggested with an extra locking arrangement. The studies conducted till now and the reviews conducted contributed in the analysis of the development and validation of the design. A design of a locking machanism for preventing the fatality is created and analysed for suggesting it to the industry so that it could be incorperated in the upcoming project of constructing the marine loading and unloading arm.