Planning our maintenance, not wait and see
The diversity of NWO’s facilities places a great deal of responsibility on everyone in the company concerned with safety. This responsibility for safety is conducted with the greatest expertise and with the proper care not least because of the many years’ shared experience of our employees. The concept of safety and process safety has a particular significance to NWO: it means checking the facilities are running safely at any given moment, and so prevent any ill effects on either people or the environment. Also, of course, a safe facility is a productive one, meaning that we are able to achieve our goal of conducting the daily business of delivering crude oil punctually to our clients. It is for this that NWO follows its manifold varied technical and organisational procedures and so contributes to absolute safety at the facilities whilst complying with all the necessary regulations.
The main safety concern and risk for the tanker pier and the crude oil tank farm is prevention of oil spills and fire outbreaks.
During the docking of a tanker and throughout its demurrage, numerous safety installations come into operation, safeguarding unproblematic waiting time while unloading takes place. Much equipment is similarly installed in the tank farm areas to monitor and enable safe operations. In the unlikely event of fire, NWO can make use of its own internal firefighting team equipped with modern fire engines especially built for putting out fires in the storage tank area. In addition there is a comprehensive foam extinguishing system installed both on the tanker pier and in the tank farm.
The long-range pipeline must also comply with rigorous safety requirements which take effect from the moment the pipe is laid. In this case too, the primary objective is to avoid oil spills. A sophisticated system with an array of early warning devices ensures the safest possible operation of the pipeline. Close contact with public safety services all along the pipeline route (fire services and THW - Technical Relief Service) and frequent drills together safeguard fast reaction times fully in accordance with the emergency response plan procedures to be effected in an emergency at our facilities, for the unlikely event that an oil spill takes place.
Preventive maintenance, the installation of comprehensive safety equipment, methodically and consistently-conducted internal and external safety tests on our premises, together with realistic emergency drills for the risk categories fire prevention, water protection, and harbour safety — these are all measures that have helped our competent team keep the facilities accident-free, faultlessly safe and in full working order.