Liquids in bulk
Oil
The North Sea tanker
Extraction of oil from the North Sea has resulted in a specialised type of crude carrier. Although crude oil from some fields is piped ashore for processing or loading into ordinary tankers at terminals like Sullom Voe in the Shetlands, that from smaller fields is often loaded at structures built up from the sea bed, such as single-point buoy moorings. Tankers which load at these points are medium-sized vessels with a large structure on the bow which contains the gear necessary to connect to the mooring buoy, which is often unmanned. This bow structure also gives some protection for the crew who are handling the mooring ropes and the hose connections, as these loading points are often far to the north in very exposed waters. Products carriers
At the refinery crude oil is processed to make petroleum products, the best known being petrol (or gasoline), paraffin (or kerosene), diesel (known also as oil fuel) and lubricating oil. Refineries near the coast or on rivers will distribute these products to depots using products tankers. These look like conventional tankers but have tanks dedicated to particular products. During one voyage they may carry several different types of product. It is a measure of the growth of the oil industry that today’s product tankers may be as big as the crude carriers of fifty years ago. But there are also much smaller tankers distributing products to smaller depots round the coast or on rivers and canals. The use of water transport in this way avoids the need for many road tankers and takes potentially dangerous cargoes off overcrowded roads, although posing other risks for the environment.
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