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SOC # COC Tank Container ISO Tank Tank Container Operator The Summary FAQs

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SOC # COC Tank Container

ISO Tank Tank Container

Operator The Summary

FAQs

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SOC # COC

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COC stands for Carrier Own Container When you book an FCL ocean freight shipment and request an ocean freight

container delivery for the load you "rent" the container from the ocean freight carrier (direct international shipping company).

Container's "Rent" charges are included in the international ocean freight rate. However, shipper should always remember that after container is released at the destination and left carrier's Container Yard (CY) to be unloaded at the consignee's facility, it must be returned to the ocean freight carrier's CY within a certain time limit. Otherwise container detention charges may apply on the ocean freight.

1-What is COC, SOC?

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SOC stands for Shipper Own Container i.e. you as the shipper own the container rather than using one of the carrier company's containers_COC (shipping line own container)

SOC. means that you buy a container for the international ocean freight shipment at origin. Then the sea freight container is your property and you are not obligated to its return. After it is emptied you may sell it, use for storage, destroy it etc. 

SOC can be GP container, ISO tank, Reefer container, Open Top…in the project transport, liquid transport…

SOC is also used for recycled usage, storage purpose…But it is often cheaper to purchase a container at the destination & save the extra handling costs of a shipper's owned container.

1-What is SOC, COC…

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If your destination facility is far away from the international ocean freight carrier's CY, then you should pay attention to possible charges on container detention. For example, upon your cargo release at the destination seaport (CY)

your sea freight container must continue to travel by rail/road thousands mile away from the CY in bond or not. Then the empty sea freight container must be returned back to the ocean carrier's CY.

In this situation, in order to avoid sea freight container detention charges and eliminate expenses related to the container return, the only option is using S.O.C. - Shipper Owned Containers, i.e. an "One Way" sea freight container.  

Some NVOCCs offers this service in accordance with the maritime container line. They provide service to any customer buying ocean containers pass, provide inspection of these containers for further ocean freight.  

2-Why SOC?

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This type of maritime and multimodal transport in their own SOC container has the following advantages: Freight costs for individual routes are cheaper than shipping via linear

container; The Customer shall be exempt from such payments as detention and

demurrage - a penalty for excess use of containers, or more simply put a return of the container to the port in the said time line;

The cost of further transportation of cargo in its own maritime containers by rail will be calculated on way as there is no need to return the container to the port;

The client is free to choose further transportation of container, it can be either by rail or road transport;

The container becomes the property of the client and further can be sold or used for various purposes, such as a warehouse or office in the parking lot.

2-Why SOC…

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Mostly SOC must comply with ISO standard Shipping lines may need a valid Container Safety Convention (“CSC”) plate

presented clearly on the SOC door, with an expiry date at least 3 months later than the estimated load date of the SOC

Empty COC reposition need not B/L issue while Empty SOC need it NVOCCs or Shipper who own container need to sign an LOI to ocean carrier to be

harmless from any and all consequences that may arise as a result of accepting SOC

Ocean carrier will shown on the B/L as "Shippers load stow and count in shippers own container“. The Return Location & the Contacting Party must be obtained from Shipper and must be stipulated on the Bill of Lading.

Always check with Ocean Carrier for SOP in handling SOC to make sure no unaware extra charge incurs at destination.

When shipping shipper owned container you should always consider container unloading the chassis at destination. You should arrange crane or load lifter for that. Also Customs are especially demanding and strict with the shipper’s own containers, do not overload the container and properly submit the customs declaration.

3- SOC Handling Principles

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Difference between Iso Tank container is useability with standart containers as tank container. It is a bag that fits to a standard 20ft container converting it to carry 20 tonne of non-haz liquids.

Especially useable for Vegetable Oils, Fruit Juices and Non-hazardous liquid chemicals. Between 10.000 liters to 24.000 liters capacity.

It can be placed into a 20' dry container , in order to fill the tank, it has to be partielly unfolded and then it needs to be secured with steel or wooded barrier called bulk-head.

Made from ultra high tensile, multi-ply ethylene co-polymers , it is an ideal product to store and transport all kind of non-hazardous liquids and chemicals by sea, railway and road. These are disposable equipments with different kind and capacities

Established lower temperature is -25 C and the highest temperature is 70 C

1-Tank Container

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Tank Container

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A tank container is a type of freight container, which includes two basic elements, the tank or tanks, and the framework

Tank containers are used primarily for the international transportation of goods including gases, liquids and pressurized dry bulk goods, as well as some foodstuffs. They are specifically designed to allow the carriage of these goods by one or more modes of transport, e.g. road, rail, sea or inland waterway, even by air, without intermediate reloading.

The framework provides the structural support for the tank and enables the tank container to be handled (usually lifted), stacked, secured and transported as a whole unit at locations such as port, rail and freight forwarding terminals, and users’ sites. The tank(s) can be filled and emptied without removal from the framework.

Where tank containers are constructed to such standards, no parts of the container, its associate fittings and/or equipment should project beyond the specified overall external dimensions. The implication being that such equipment may become damaged or fouled in the handling, stacking and transportation of containers, and threaten the integrity of the container. Standards do give design criteria for access ladders and walkways, but they do not cover equipment such as handrails.

1-Tank Container

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Tank containers are cylindrical tanks which are placed in a frame and are used to transport liquids or gases in bulk. Tank containers may differ depending on their capacity, size, the materials used, special equipment and other characteristics.

Many tank containers used in international carriage will conform to the requirements of the International Convention for Safe Containers (CSC); this Convention is implemented in Great Britain by the Freight Containers (Safety Convention) Regulations 1984. The Convention sets structural requirements to ensure safety in the handling, stacking and transporting of containers in the course of normal operation. National and international standards 1, 2 define the standard sized container types and rigid dimensional tolerances, which operated in road, rail, and sea transport modes. Tank containers manufactured to these international standards are often termed ‘ISO tanks’.

For more information, please refer to www.itco.be

1-Tank Container...

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Tank containers have been in existence almost as long as the dry freight containers but represent a more specialized niche of the Inter-modal transportation industry. Tank containers represent just 1% of the world’s container fleet by number but 10 by value because they are expensive to manufacture relative to dry freigh containers.

Containerisation International estimates that there were 211,500 IMO 1 tank containers in existence at the end of 2006 and that this fleet size is growing at approximately 5% per annum.

It is estimated that 15,000 new tanks are produced per year. China International Marine Containers (“CIMC”) which is the world’s largest producer of all types of containers, manufactures close to half of all new containers after only four years in the business. Welfit Oddy of South Africa produces 5,000 tanks per annum and the remainder are produced in China and Europe in lower quantities.

2-Tank Container Market

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Tank containers are primarily operated by combined transport firms and specialised tank logistic firms while major shipping lines own very few tanks.

Leading tank operators include firms such as Bulkhaul, VOGT Tanktainer, Rinnen Group, Taby Schiffahrts-und Speditions, Bertschi, United Transport Tanktainers and H&S Foodtrans. Tank lessors such as Exsif and Eurotainer are also significant purchasers of tank containers.

Tank operators are expanding their operations beyond their core markets in Europe and the USA into developing economies like China and India where both inter-modalism and the chemical industries are growing strongly. They are also promoting the environmental and cost advantages of tank containers over other liquid transport alternatives such as drums, IBCs and tankers.

2-Tank Container Market…

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ISO Tank

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ISO TANK CONTAINER was developed for the carriage of all types of liquids, ranging from, but not limited to, portable (food grade) liquids, non hazardous, and hazardous liquids, including corrosives, flammables, toxics, and explosives. The Tank Container eliminates the risks in transferring liquids from one vessel to another, and provides for an extremely safe, secure, cost effective and viable mode of transportation.

Once the Tank Container has discharged, it is taken to a recognized cleaning station, cleaned thoroughly for that product, and then made ready for it’s next load. Although tank containers have a fairly uniform external appearance, the construction materials, linings, and fittings vary. Tanks are classified according to the specification of the tank shell and fittings. It is this classification which determines what type of product maybe carried. The function of the frame is to support and protect the tank as well as to facilitate the stowage, securement and handling by standard ISO container equipment. When properly handled, the frame is designed to cope with the stresses of a fully loaded tank

1-About ISO Tank

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ISO tank containers is a tank containers constructed according to the 20 foot ISO standard. They have a capacity ranging from 15,000 to 27,000 litres. Since the external dimensions are exactly the same as box containers for dry freight, standard ISO tank containers can easily be stacked and transported on container ships. For this reason, standard ISO tank containers are used mainly for deep sea transport. In the light of the characteristics described above, standard ISO tank containers are fully standardized products. Buyers of standard ISO tank containers are mainly lease companies7 and logistic operators Standard ISO tank containers are mainly used for the transportation of general liquid freight.

The parties are of the opinion that general liquid freight can be transported not only in standard ISO tank containers, but also in three alternative types of transportation which, as in the case of standard ISO tank containers, fit within the standard dimensions of box containers for dry freight. These three types of transport are: i) flexi-bags or flexi-tanks, (ii) Intermediate Bulk Containers (hereinafter “IBCs”),10 and (iii) steel or plastic drums. The parties therefore argue that standard ISO tank

containers do not constitute a separate product market, but are part of a larger product market which may be defined as a market for new modes of transporting general liquid freight for marine use.

1-About ISO Tank

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Length: 10ft (2.991m), 20ft (6.058m), 30ft (9.125m) and 40ft (12.192m). Under ISO 668 it would be possible to include a 45ft (17.192m) long unit to the list. However in the international tank industry approximately 95 % of all tanks built are 20ft long.

Width: 8ft (2.438m) wide

Height: Generally 8ft (2.438m) and 8ft 6in (2.591m). There are also “half high” tanks that are typically 4ft (1.219m) and 4ft 3in (1.296m) tall

Volume: 9,000 to 27,000 litres. Stacking: The combined mass of the superimposed load shall not exceed

the allowable stack weight shown on the Safety Approval Plate, generally 192,000 kg.

Transport: Can be carried on all modes of transport and deep and short sea routes within cells or on deck

2-ISO Tank Specification

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3-ISO Tank Components

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The special tank containers comprise two main categories of containers, namely : (i) oversize tank containers, which cannot be transported on a tank container ship and

are usually used for transportation within Europe by road, rail, inland shipping or for short sea crossings and

(ii) specialized tank containers with special characteristics, designed especially for the transportation of liquids which require special treatment during transportation.

there are hardly any substitutes for special tank containers. In addition, the production of special tank containers requires more know-how than the production of standard ISO tank containers. For this reason, it is easier for new players to produce standard ISO tank containers than to produce special tank containers and it is more difficult to switch from the production of standard ISO tank containers to the production of special tank containers than vice versa.

Special tank containers are more expensive than standard ISO tank containers because a special tank container has to meet the customer's specific requirements. As a result, it is not worthwhile using a special tank container for goods which can also be transported in a standard ISO tank container.

The market investigation further confirmed that standard ISO tank containers and special tank containers cannot be substituted.

4-Special Tank Container vs ISO Tank

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Special tank containers are always tailor-made, that is manufactured to order and always necessary to transport very sensitive liquid freight.

On the basis of its market investigation, the European Commission has concluded that standard ISO tank containers and special tank containers are separate product markets for the following reasons: special tank containers not only have additional, but also totally different

characteristics compared to standard ISO tank containers; special tank containers are significantly more expensive than standard ISO tank

containers; due to the significant price difference, special tank containers are only purchased for goods for which they are developed, although in principle they can also be used for the transportation of other goods; and

special tank containers are tailor-made so that they meet the customer's specific requirements. For this reason they are produced in small quantities.

On the basis of its market investigation in the first phase, the European Commission concludes that four separate markets can be distinguished for special tank containers, namely the markets for (i) oversized (swap) tank containers, (ii) gas tank containers, (iii) cryogenic tank containers and (iv) specialized ISO tank containers.

4-Special Tank Container vs ISO Tank…

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IBC_Intermediate bulk containers (Tote Tank) are rigid or flexible portable packagings, other than packagings specified in Chapter 6.1 or 6.3 and large packagings specified in Chapter 6.6, that: (a) have a capacity of:

(i) not more than 3.0 m3 (3,000 litres) for solids and liquids of packing groups II and III;

(ii) not more than 1.5 m3 for solids of packing group I when packed in flexible, rigid plastics, composite, fibreboard and wooden IBCs;

(iii) not more than 3.0 m3 for solids of packing group I when packed in metal IBCs;

(iv) not more than 3.0 m3 for radioactive material of Class 7; (b) are designed for mechanical handling; (c) are resistant to the stresses produced in handling and transport, as

determined by tests. (http://www.ntc.gov.au/filemedia/Publications/ADG7_Volume_1_Part_1.pdf)

5-Others Concepts

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Portable Tank: a multimodal tank having a capacity of more than 450l used for the transport of substances of classes 3 to 9. The portable tank includes a shell fitted with service equipment and structural equipment necessary for the transport of dangerous substances. The portable tank shall be capable of being filled and discharged without the removal of its structural equipment. Road tank vehicles, rail tank-wagons, non-metallic tanks and intermediate bulk containers (IBCs) are not considered to fall within the definition for portable tanks.

UN portable tank means a inter-modal tank having a capacity of more than 450liters (118.9 gallons). It includes a shell fitted with service equipment and structural equipment, including stabilizing members external to the shell and skids, mountings or accessories to facilitate mechanical handling. A UN portable tank must be capable of being filled and discharged without the removal of its structural equipment and must be capable of being lifted when full. Cargo tanks, rail tank car tanks, non-metallic tanks, non-specification tanks, bulk bins, and IBCs and packagings made to cylinder specifications are not UN portable tanks. ISO tank is a type of UN Portable Tank.Source: (http://www.itco.be/download/2000_770.pdf ).

5-Other Concepts…

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UN Portable Tank: a tank designed and approved for the carriage of dangerous goods (as defined by UN dangerous goods list) including UN Types T1 to T50 (IMO1, IMO2 and IMO5).(www.geaseaco.com )

Tank for chemical: UN Portable tank (T11) is designed to meet the requirements of businesses that need to transport or store liquid chemicals.

MEGCs: Multiple Element Gas Containers (MEGCs) is a tank container for gases of Class 2 that are either compressed, liquefied or refrigerated. This is a Multimodal assemblies of cylinders, tubes and bundles of cylinders which are interconnected by a manifold and which are assembled within a framework. The MEGC includes service equipment and structural equipment necessary for the transport of gases. MEGCs may be equipped with PRDs.

Tank for corrosive chemicals : a special tanks provides a range of tanks lined with rubber, baked phenolic or flouro-polymer linings for the special chemicals that are not compatible with stainless steel such as fluids with high chloride content and certain acids

5-Other Concepts…

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FOSFA/KOSHER Tank: Increasingly, oils and fats are being transported in tank containers.  FOSFA Contract 90A for Refined Edible Oils and Fats Delivered Terms by Tank Cars (Road and Rail) and ISO Tank Containers, issued jointly with NOFOTA, GROFOR and UCOGRAS, facilitates such trade.  Line 15 of the contract reads: "When deliveries are to ISO tank containers, these containers shall comply with the FOSFA International Qualifications and Operational Procedures for ISO Tank Containers carrying Animal, Marine and Vegetable Oils and Fats". (http://www.fosfa.org/?pgc=83&mod=5&mnu= )

Tanks for Foodstuffs: ISO tank for the transportation of food-grade cargo intended for human consumption. As such, tank containers are supplied with certificates of cleanliness and a record of the previous cargo carried. The stainless-steel tanks and valves are designed for ease of cleaning and

sterilization and may be secured for the safe and hygienic transport of food products. Some special tanks for special applications including units dedicated to beer, three-

compartment tanks for transporting different products in a single tank, and super-insulated tanks to maintain chilled and heated temperatures.

5-Other Concepts…

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The carriage of oils and fats as a subject is a very complex matter and to capture the evolved practices and contractual obligations now demanded by all international markets, the Federation publishes its own document referred to as the Carriage of Oils and Fats.  This is a set of protocols and contract referred documents contained in a loose-leaf manual.  These documents include the FOSFA Qualifications and Operational Procedures for Ships Engaged in the Carriage of Oils and Fats in Bulk for Edible and Oleo-Chemical Use, Previous Cargo lists and Certificates linked to carriage conditions, in three sections:a/-Contract Referred Documents* Qualifications and Operational Procedures  List of Banned Immediate Previous Cargoes List of Acceptable Previous Cargoes

b/-ISO Tank Containers* Qualifications and Operational Procedures Owner/Operator's Statement of Compliance, Suitability and Cleanliness

c/-Prescribed Report Forms* Combined Master's Certificate Certificate of Compliance, Suitability and Cleanliness of Ship's Tank

Parties involved in trading oils and fats in bulk under FOSFA CIF terms will note the reference in contracts and optional clauses to these various documents.  Their purpose is to ensure the safe handling and preservation of the integrity of the cargo to which the contract relates, and avoid contamination incidents, which while problematic in the 1980s, has been predominantly eradicated.  To subscribe to this publication, complete the Order Form and return it to the Federation's offices.  The documents are available to members via the website www.fosfa.org

Carriage of Oil & Fats

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Offshore Tank Container is designed for the carriage of hazardous and non-hazardous liquid cargo mounted in carbon steel frame. Specially designed for repeated use in the transport to, from or between fixed and/or floating offshore installations and ships. Tested to withstand the dynamic lifting and impact forces that may occur during handling in open seas in adverse weather and sea conditions. Capacities Available

5500 litres to 6500 litres in ten-foot frame 7500 litres to 8500 litres in ten-foot frame

Gas Tank: ISO tank container type UN T50(IMO5)for transportation of liquefied petroleum gases (LPG) and ammonia. Technical characteristics: 1. Container type UN T50 2. Size in acc. To ISO 1CC 3. Nominal capacity, L 25000 4. Maximal gross mass, KG 24000 5. Tare mass, KG 8350 6. MAWP, bar 22 7. Test pressure, bar 30 8. Temperature range, C -40.. +50

5-Other Concepts…

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Flexitank: Difference between Iso Tank container is useability with standart containers as tank container. It is a bag that fits to a standard 20ft container

Flexitank is a collapsible bulk liquid container made from polyethylene materials.  With capacities from 16000 to 24000 liters, depending on the Specific Gravity of the liquid, this modern vehicle of international bulk transportation converts a Standard 20 ft dry container into a cost effective bulk liquid container capable of carrying up to 21.5 tones of non-hazardous product.

Especially useable for Vegetable Oils, Fruit Juices and Non-hazardous liquid chemicals. Between 10.000 liters to 24.000 liters capacity.

It can be placed into a 20' dry container , in order to fill the tank, it has to be partielly unfolded and then it needs to be secured with steel or wooded barrier called bulk-head.

Made from ultra high tensile, multi-ply ethylene co-polymers , it is an ideal product to store and transport all kind of non-hazardous liquids and chemicals by sea, railway and road. These are disposable equipments with different kind and capacities

Established lower temperature is -25 C and the highest temperature is 70 C Flexi Tank is the best solution for the liquid products transportation.And It can save up

40% transportation cost for you comparing with DRUM, BARREL, ISO TANK. So it would be the best substitute to the drum  and barrel.

5-Other Concepts…

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5-Other Concepts…

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1-Reliability Tank containers have few moving parts The vast majority are manufactured from stainless steel which has a high corrosion

resistance All the valve must be approved by the appropriate authorities.

2-Environment Over the last 25 years instances of leakage from tank containers in transit have been

very rare Provided the cargo is discharged correctly the residual of cargo in the tank is

approximately 0.04% which reduces the disposal of the product as “waste” when the tank is cleaned

The tanks are fully intermodal and can be used on railroads to reduce the environmental impact of road transportation

Tank containers are a versatile very long life items of equipment which can be loaded with a variety of cargoes thereby reducing the need for empty positioning.

6- ISO Tank Benefits

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They offer safety with minimal chance of leakage if the tank container is physically damaged. Drums in a damaged dry freight Container are more likely to leak

Filling and Discharge in comparison to multiple fill/discharge operation required for the equivalent drum volume.

Single load and discharge for up to 26,000 litres of product in one Tank Container Greater volume per container slot reducing container movements

3-Reduction in Costs Standard ISO 20 ft Tank containers have capacities up to 26,000 Litres 26,000 Litre Tanks can transport the equivalent of 123 drums 205 Litres. It would take approximately 1.6 standard 20ft ISO dry boxes to transport 123 drums The time and manpower to load and discharge tank containers is less than the

equivalent volume in drums Cleaning costs are reduced Cargo residual is less therefore disposal costs reduced when cleaning

6- ISO Tank Benefits…

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6- ISO Tank Benefits…

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6- ISO Tank Benefits…

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Main advantage of the tank containers is that they can be used intermodal. Connected with its capacity between 15 to 25 m3 there is worldwide the

infrastructure to handle and to transport these units. For smaller transport volumes middle-sized tanks are offered by some tank container

manufacturers and also units of about 1m3 so called “IBCs”, are still in operation. And – like 1000 years –barrels are used to transport small volumes. The main disadvantage of barrels and also IBCs is that they are presently not really

intermodal and that connected with the smaller capacity the involved manpower for changing transported goods and as they are difficult to clean or it is expensive to clean them, the costs per transported liter or cubic meter are compared with tank containers higher, also bearing in mind that the production cost of barrels and IBCs are much lower.

Another problem is one way use of barrels becomes more and more difficult as if chemicals are transported the barrel cannot be disposed on like in earlier times without any cleaning.

Also, the tank container has proven over the last 25 years that it is very very safe. Only very few accidents where product went out of the tank containers were mentioned over the last years. The stainless steel tank withstands more impact and damages than aluminium tanks, IBCs or barrels.

7-Tank Container>IBCs>Barrels

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Ease of use Reduced capital investment Reduced labor and product handling costs Ship larger volumes Elimination of product loss from bags/bins Safer/more stable than large bags in containers Reduced loading/unloading time Re-use –no need to purchase a bag every time Eco-Friendly Footprint Potential to eliminate re-pasteurization

7-Tank Container>IBCs>Barrels…

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Tank Container Operator

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Tank Container Operator in the Supply Chain SHIPS

SHIPPING COMPANY

TANK CONTAINER OPERATORS

AGENTS

FORWARDERS

CFS

CONTAINER TERMINALS

DistributionSupply Chain

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Long-distance, international transportation of liquid such as chemicals, gas… is conducted using one of five modes: pipeline, bulk tankers, parcel tankers, tank containers, or drums. Pipeline and bulk tankers are used primarily in the petrochemical industry for

the transport of large quantities of a single product. Parcel tankers are smaller vessels with up to 42 tank compartments and are

used to simultaneously transport multiple cargoes. Tank containers, also referred to as ISO tanks, inter-modal tanks, or IMO

portable tanks, are designed for inter-modal transportation by road, rail, and ship.

1- Introduction

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Tank containers have many advantages for the international transport of liquid : They are environment-friendly, since they are less prone to spillage during

filling and unloading, as well as leakage during transportation. They permit a higher payload when compared to drums stowed in dry

containers (43% more volume). They can be handled mechanically, which results in cost savings, but also

ensures safety when handling hazardous commodities. They provide secure door-to-door multi-modal transportation (by road, rail, sea

or inland waterways), and do not require specialized port-side infrastructure. They are safe and durable, with a design life of 20-30 years. They can be cleaned and placed into alternate commodity service with

minimum downtime. They can be used as temporary storage for customers with limited space or

high-cost permanent storage.

1- Introduction…

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Tank Container Services Flow

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A tank container operator manages a fleet of tanks to transport liquid cargo for a variety of customers between essentially any two points in the world. Typically, 60% to 70% of the fleet is owned by the operator; the remaining tanks are leased, usually for periods of 5 to 10 years. To serve a standard customer order, a tank container operator would provide a tank (or multiple tanks) at the customer’s origin plant and arrange transportation for the tank across multiple modes to the destination plant. Transportation will usually include a truck leg at origin and destination and a steamship leg between a port near the origin to another port close to the destination. It may also include rail or barge legs at each end. Operators use depots for temporary storage, cleaning, and repair of empty containers.

The management problems faced by tank container operators specifically, the difficult task of cost-effectively managing a fleet of tank containers, given imbalanced global trade flows. Given the high cost of tanks, high loaded container utilization is very important in this industry.

2- The Concept…

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The typical tank service offering provided by a tank operator to a shipper customer is a one-way trip. To obtain service, customers first place a request for a price quote for a given origin-destination pair, and then subsequently make a booking or multiple bookings under the quote. We will call these steps the quotation and booking processes respectively. With the exception of certain ancillary charges, the tank container operator charges the customer a fixed price for transportation, and pays the transportation service providers directly out of this fee. Therefore, it is in the operator’s interest to minimize the transportation costs for most shipments. There must be a level of “reasonableness” in transit times, and some customers may be willing to pay a premium for faster service however.

Tank container operators do not typically own or manage any of the underlying transportation services used to move a container from origin to destination. Instead, they enter into contracts for transportation service with a number of providers. Tank container operators maintain contracts with trucking companies, railroads, and port drayage companies for inland transportation, and with container steamship lines and non-vessel operating common carriers (NVOCCs) for port-to-port ocean transportation. Each transport service contract specifies transport legs that are available to the operator, and their costs. Operators combine these legs into itineraries to provide origin-to-destination service for customers.

3- The Services

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Tank Container Cleaning is one of the most important and dangerous processes in the transportation chain. The availability of a suitable cleaning station must be taken in to account before a cargo is accepted for transportation.  It has to be appreciated that not all cargoes will be able to be processed by an individual cleaning station.

The cleaning station must be equipped with all the required health and safety equipment and carry out rigorous safety procedures including atmosphere monitoring before allowing personnel to enter a tank.

Tanks should be dried immediately after cleaning.  It is highly probable that the final rinse water will be chlorinated which will corrode stainless steel.  Failure to clean correctly and immediately after discharge can result in the next cargo being contaminated with the former and or corrosion affecting the pressure vessel.

3- The Services…

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To develop price quotes for customers, container operators currently rely on a port-to-port methodology for developing and pricing itineraries. In this process, the operator associates both the origin and destination customer locations with an appropriate export port and import port. Then, using a database of available ocean carrier contracts and the scheduled sailings for each carrier, at most two or three potential ocean carrier services between these ports are selected. Each such service forms the basis for an itinerary. The price of each itinerary is then determined by adding an inland transportation cost (if necessary), a profit component, and possibly an overhead cost allocation (for example, to account for asset repositioning costs) to the ocean service cost. The itinerary transit time is computed by adding inland transport times if necessary and schedule delays to the transit time of the scheduled ocean service. These identified itineraries now likely provide different combinations of price and transit time. Typically, the low-price itinerary is first presented to the customer, and if the transit time is unacceptable a higher-price shorter-duration option is presented. Once the customer selects an itinerary, the quote is formalized.

4-The Price Quotes

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Price quotes to customers are usually valid anywhere from 30 to 90 days (and sometimes longer), and one or many bookings may be made over the duration of the quote. When booking, the customer specifies the number and type of tank containers needed, and service time windows at the origin and destination. Minimally, the time window information will include the earliest time containers may be loaded at the origin, and the latest time containers should be delivered to the destination. Given these requirements, the tank operator must verify that the quoted itinerary is feasible. Since ocean sailings are scheduled and service is not provided each day, the sailing used to generate the quote may or may not allow a feasible routing satisfying the time windows. The operator must also verify that the quoted sailings have available space. If all components of the quoted service offering are not available, the operator must determine an alternative best itinerary that meets customer requirements.

4-The Price Quotes…

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Empty repositioning is a critical component of tank container management. Since fleet operators provide global service and loaded flow patterns are not balanced geographically, some regions tend to be net sources of empty tanks and others net sinks. Additionally, loaded flow demands exhibit seasonal patterns. Operators correct geographic and temporal imbalances in container supply and demand by repositioning empty containers between depots.

Some tank container operators have recently begun using decision support tools based on mathematical programming for dynamic operational planning of reposition moves. One method that we are aware of determines weekly repositioning moves using a deterministic multi-commodity network flow model to minimize empty move cost given forecasts of loaded arrivals and departures in each port area. Such models typically use a planning horizon of several months discretized into weeks, and are solved each week with only the first week’s decisions implemented in the standard rolling-horizon approach.

5-The Empty Repositioning

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Empty container repositioning has received a fair amount of research attention since it is an integral part of many freight transportation problems (see, e.g., Crainic et al., 1993; Shen and Khoong, 1995; Cheung and Chen, 1998; Choong et al., 2002). Repositioning decisions have also been treated directly in large-scale tactical planning models. Recent work by Bourbeau et al. (2000), for example, develops parallel solution techniques for large-scale static container network design problems that explicitly consider repositioning decisions.

Many opportunities exist to provide improved operational decision support technology to tank container operators. However, the most significant opportunity lies in integrating container booking and routing decisions with repositioning decisions. When a tank container is booked, an appropriate empty is assigned to the load, moved from its depot to the customer, loaded and transported via multiple modes to the destination meeting customer requirements, moved back to a depot for cleaning, and then stored or repositioned for future use. An operator making these decisions centrally for a global system via an integrated management model may indeed be able to reduce costs and improve equipment utilization. Such an integrated approach would differ substantially from current practice. Although optimization models are used for repositioning, the inputs to current models are forecasts of weekly loaded flow imbalances at depots; thus, container routings that may improve flow balance without repositioning are ignored.

5-The Empty Repositioning

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The Summary

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A tank container has a number of added benefits for a carrier versus a Line’s owned dry freight unit: No inland cost or absorption No empty repositioning No inventory cost

M&R (Maintaining & Repairing) and storage Equipment cost, leased or capital asset

Port-port moves simplify booking ,reduce overheads Impact on fleet management overhead costs No USA chassis requirements

Tank operators move units on a round trip basis Either empty and full return or full return via another trade lane Tank containers front or head haul are opposite to shipping lines

Yes…tanks are generally heavy 20% of all moves are empty units The carbon footprint of a tank container is vastly smaller than shipping drums

60% of cargoes moved are non hazardous chemicals, FOSFA,Class 9 or food grade

Tank containers are highly regulated types of packaging Clear cargo identification, no mixed cargoes

1-The Benefits

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1964: First design ideas for tank containers (skid tanks) 1966: First builds 1967: ISO tank designed 1968: Trafpak orders first series of ISO tank containers 1970s

Design and build starts to spread across Europe Early commercial production mainly in Ireland and France Rest of Europe starts to follow

When the first tank container was presented at the late 60ies, nobody really knew whether they would be accepted by the market. Today the tank container has an important role for the safe and economic transport of liquids and gases.

Still a lot of tank containers are built in Europe and a lot of improvements and specials are still designed there.

Tremendous growth of tank containerization will take place on the Far East markets, probably also in East Europe and in some of the CIS states. As these countries have also a tradition in steel building there might appear new companies from the states offering tank containers.

In the future the tank containers will have an important role in the transport of liquids, gases and dry bulk worldwide.

2-The history and Future

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Limited number of Lines operate their own tanks

Lines stopped offering this specialised equipment in the 1990’s

Tank containers are provided to the foodstuff chemical and gas industries by specialized operators

A number of container lines have either refused to accept tank containers or impose severe restrictions, whilst others welcome tank container business

3-The Opportunity

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FAQs

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1-What is the difference between a tank, tank container, ISOtank, intermodal tank, portable tank and demountable tank? Tank containers are commonly referred to as tanks, ISOtanks or tank

containers. The IMDG regulations refer to portable tanks and the ADR to demountable tanks. Users should refer to the regulations for specific requirements. Intermodal tanks are containers that comply with ADR regulations, but are longer than ISO dimensions. 

2-What is a frame tank and what is a beam tank? "Frame" and "beam" are descriptions of the differing frame designs. Both are

ISO configuration frames and used in an identical manner. The frame tank is fitted with top and bottom side rails, while the beam tank is free of these and thus a lighter weight. 

3-What is a swap body tank container? Swap tanks have a larger capacity and dimension than the standard 20ft

ISOtank, usually 7.15m or 7.82m in length. They are mostly used in Europe on road and rail, and cannot be transported by container vessel.

4-Can I completely fill the tank container? A space (ullage) must be left to allow for expansion of the cargo

FAQs

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5-What is the capacity of a tank container? Tank containers commonly range in capacity from 12,000 litres up to 26,000

litres. Space (ullage) is required to allow for cargo expansion and 95% to 98% is the common maximum load. A minimum fill level (usually 80%) is required to reduce instability due to surge minimum. Regulations detail the minimum and maximum fill according to the cargo.

6-Why are there different capacities of tank container? Capacity must suit the weight of the cargo and the quantity required to be

transported 7-Can I use tank containers for storage applications?

Tank containers are suitable for storage applications and have the added benefit of being suitable for stacking. Regulations concerning containment apply in certain regions.

8-Where can I find information regarding dangerous goods regulations? The various government authorities publish the regulations and distribute them

via their own and government booksellers. Many of the regulations are also accessible via their website.Where can I find cleaning and repair companies?

HCB (Hazardous Cargo Bulletin) publishes a guide containing contact details of cleaning and repair companies. GE SeaCo can also provide guidance. 

FAQs

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9-Where do I obtain a cleaning certificate? After a tank is cleaned, an inspection is carried out by the cleaning contractor

and the tank is issued with a cleaning receipt/wash note. An independent surveyor may be appointed to provide a cleaning certificate.

10-What is a periodic test? Tank container regulations require that the tank is tested at 5-year intervals

and undergo an additional intermediate test at 2.5 years. 11-Where is the tank tested?

Tanks are supplied with valid test certificates. If a re-test is needed during the course of the lease, this can be done at a network of worldwide depots. It is a standard service offered by depots and can be arranged to be completed within a day.

12-Who is responsible for tank testing? You will be responsible for ensuring that tank containers are periodically

tested and accord with the regulations in the region of use. GE SeaCo is able to assist with the arrangements.

FAQs

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13-When do I have to test a tank? Tanks should be tested within 90 days of the expiry date of the valid test

certificate. 14-Is it necessary to test tanks used for static storage?

The regulations that commonly apply to tank containers concern transportation. Tanks used for static storage should comply with local regulations in the place of use. GE SeaCo can provide individual advice.

15-Do I need insurance? As a user you are required to be insured against all liabilities. Insurance

might be provided by your existing insurer but, if not, there are a number of insurers specialising in tank containers. GE SeaCo can provide contacts.

Sources: http://www.geseaco.com/tanks-faqs

FAQs

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