Liquids in bulk
Chemical tankers
The chemical industry is essential to modern life: just think how much plastic, how many pharmaceuticals, and how much synthetic fibre the average household uses. The industry needs to move its raw and partly-processed materials from factory to factory, and for large quantities the most economical and probably the safest method of doing this is by water. Chemical tankers often look like products tankers. Inside, however, they are more sophisticated. Corrosive chemicals like sulphuric acid need steel tanks that have a resistant coating applied to them, otherwise the acid would just dissolve the steel. These and many other types of chemicals need to be very carefully handled as they are often hazardous to life. Operating procedures on chemical tankers need to be very strict to maintain their excellent safety record. Chemical tankers are often painted red or orange to warn other craft to be extra vigilant. They often load or discharge in areas of ports remote from other ships. The may have dedicated anchorages where they wait for berths or for orders well away from other ships.
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