Biodiesel Tankers

A ship that is constructed to haul liquids in bulk is a tank ship or more commonly known as a tanker. Originating in the oil industry, these ships came to be because the oil companies wanted a way to distribute their product to customers in a more cost-effective manner. Even today, it is more often than not cheaper to ship large quantities of liquids in bulk through the use of tankers. Although oil is not always the liquid being shipped, vessels can be generally called oil tankers and it is an understood term.

Depending upon the type of product being transported, how it is handled and shipped varies. Specialty vessels like chemical tankers and LNG carriers (built to handle liquefied natural gas) have come into existence based on need. In 2008, it was thought by the United Kingdom that biodiesel would require a specialty vessel for transport, specifically special chemical carriers. Only a few new, from-scratch biodiesel tankers were built for use during this time. At the time, it was accepted that the rules in place would have to be changed in order to move biofuel for transport onto existing tankers.

As of 2010, the opinion of some chemical tanker operators is that officers must become familiar with the biodiesel fuel itself. The reason is that the haul and transport of this type of fuel on chemical tankers are already extremely common. Biodiesel tankers are essentially operative chemical tankers. These vessels are already built to handle different kinds of liquids and more often than not, have separate tanks for hauling more than one type in a transport trip.

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