Guide to carriage of chemicals

5.1

Handytankers K/S

Loading at River Plate, Argentina

Below you will find some useful information in connection with loading of soyabean
oils at River Plate, Argentina.

5.1.1

Tank Cleaning

5.1.1.1

The vessel can normally clean in from Clean Petroleum Products (CPP) to soyabean
oil in 3-4 days, generating about 300-500 cbm of annex I wash water.

5.1.1.2

If the vessel is discharging CPP at River Plate it will be cheaper to perform the tankcleaning up river as it is very expensive with pilots and tugs plus the time and bunkers
to proceed outside the river and back up river to the loading berth.

5.1.1.3

Fresh water is available at the river and the wash water can be disposed to a barge.
The Master should however keep in mind that some terminals only supply fresh water
at about 3 cbm/hour, wherefore this has to be planned well in advance.
The vessel must always try to produce the fresh water by itself prior arrival at the
River Plate if possible.

5.1.1.4

Taking river water for tank-cleaning should be avoided, but if ballast is taken outside
the river then this can be used for part of the tank-cleaning to save money and loss of
time.
The Master must check with Owners if this procedure is approved.

5.1.1.5

The vessel can clean the tanks from CPP to soyabean oil without the use of tankcleaning chemicals, but if the tanks have traces/sood after the use of vessels inertgas
system, then we recommend that this is removed as part of Owners maintenance.
Please also see section 2.2.5.2 and section 2.2.5.3

5.1.1.6

If an odour remains in the tanks, then this can be removed by spraying orange/lime
essence on the tank sides/bottom.
Please also see section 2.2.6.1

5.1.2

Tank inspection

5.1.2.1

In Argentina it is mandatory that all tanks have to be cleared by the government

surveyor called Senasa.

5.1.2.2

For many years it has been customary of the trade that the government surveyors
reject the tanks until they receive some money (usually abt 8000).

5.1.2.3

It is Handytankers policy NOT to accept such facilitation payments to anybody. The

Master is instructed to advise Handytankers immediately, if such request is made.
The vessel must advise Name, rank, title or any other information that can be obtained
about the person requestion the facilitation payment.
Handytankers will then give instructions how to report the incidence.

Prepared by: JOC008

Doc: 05.01 River Plate.doc

Section: 5

Approved by: DTC001

Orig date: 15-10-2010

Printed: 15-12-2010

page: 1 of 3
Ver: 1.0

Guide to carriage of chemicals

Handytankers K/S

5.1.2.4

Handytankers strongly suggest that Owners instruct their P+I club to arrange the local
P+I representative to be present during the tank-inspection and loading to protect
Owners interests Handytankers will not have any surveyor present as this is an
Owners matter.

5.1.3

Bunkering

5.1.3.1

The bunker availability at River Plate area is not very stable and the price is high
wherefore it is of utmost importance to plan the bunkering as far in advance as
possible.
Due to the price it should be considered if the vessel should only bunker to reach
Durban if bound for Asia/Persian Gulf and Gibraltar if bound for Mediterranean.

5.1.3.2

If vessel is discharging in Argentina and has to re-load and bunkering is not postponed
until departure from loading port then the bunker is considered a cabotage commodity
and hence there will be a bunker tax presently about 12% on the total purchase price.

5.1.3.3

There is a draft restriction at the river entrance which in most cases means that the
bunker can only be supplied upon sailing.

5.1.3.4

Bunkering at Buenos Aires anchorage is often the cheapest place, but the draft
restriction at the river entrance must be taken into consideration.

5.1.3.5

Bunkering at Montevideo, Uruguay is more expensive due to extra port call and higher
bunker price, but there are no draft restriction and no deviation to take into
consideration.

5.1.3.6

An alternative to Buenos Aires and Montevideo the bunkering can be Rio Grande,
Brazil where the bunker price often is much lower, but a full port call must be taken
into the calculation.
If the vessel is bound for Asia/Persian Gulf then the deviation will only be about half a
day, but a bunker call at Durban can maybe be avoided.
If the vessel is bound for Europe/Mediterranean there will be no deviation.

5.1.4

Loading

5.1.4.1

The Charterers for vegoils do normally not give full voyage order like the Charterers
for CPP/DPP voyages.

5.1.4.2

The vessel will often only receive the cargo split just before arrival at the loading port
and often the Charterers will even instruct the vessel to follow local instructions in
respect of the quantity/grades. It is therefore always recommended to check quantity
and grades to be loaded with the agent as well.

5.1.4.3

To avoid shortage claims at discharge port, please make sure that you load minimum
the nominated quantity.
Please see section 1.0.3.1.2 and section 1.0.3.1.3
Cargo documents

5.1.5

Prepared by: JOC008

Doc: 05.01 River Plate.doc

Section: 5

Approved by: DTC001

Orig date: 15-10-2010

Printed: 15-12-2010

page: 2 of 3
Ver: 1.0

Guide to carriage of chemicals

Handytankers K/S

5.1.5.1

Early departure (EDP) is normally applied at Argentine ports and the agent will only
send the draft Bills of Lading for Masters approval some time after departure.

5.1.5.2

As there normally will be many Bills of Lading it is of utmost importance that the
Master check all Bills of Lading carefully to make sure that all information stated is
correct, such as
Total quantity of the Bills of lading is correct
Date when cargo was loaded is correct
Bill of lading date is correct
Co-mingling clause is correct
Owners + Charterers + charter party date is correct
All clauses required by Handytankers are inserted

5.1.5.3

The cargo details as required by the IBC code will normally not be stated in the Bills
of lading and the alternative Marpol Shipping Document will be sent as soon as
possible after departure from the loading port.

Prepared by: JOC008

Doc: 05.01 River Plate.doc

Section: 5

Approved by: DTC001

Orig date: 15-10-2010

Printed: 15-12-2010

page: 3 of 3
Ver: 1.0