US Maritime Administration drops cost study of costly double-hulling

A LACK of interest and funding has induced the US Maritime Administration to withdraw an invitation to bid on a study on the "safety, economic and environmental issues of vessels with double hulls", reports American Shipper.

The study was to do a cost/benefit analysis into costly double hulling. "Though double hulls reduce the threat of oil pollution as a result of grounding, they significantly increase the amount of energy needed to propel a vessel and increase the amount of air pollution into the atmosphere," said the invitation.

"As a result, the maritime industry's carbon footprint and criteria pollutant emissions are increased," it said.

The 1990 Oil Pollution Act, prompted by the Exxon Valdez oil spill, made double hulls mandatory for petroleum tankers in US waters, later re-enforced by the UN's International Maritime Organisation (IMO) convention.

Bill Box, a spokesman for the major company group, Intertanko, said: "From our members' experience, double-hull designs have evolved into safe and reliable ships with an excellent safety and pollution prevention record."