Transportation of oil cargoes by the world tanker fleet takes place in various climatic zones with significant fluctuations in ambient temperature. When the temperature of the oil cargo increases, its volume will increase, which may lead to increasing the risks of the cargo spilling onto the ship's deck. International conventions and codes that regulate the transportation of crude oil and petroleum products allow the use of only 98% of the cargo capacity of the tanker, the remaining 2% is called the safety factor, i.e. the margin of volume for the unforeseen expansion of the cargo when sailing in different climatic zones. From the other hand, the intensity of cargo operations during the transportation of various types of cargo, including oil cargo, has led to an increase in the role of the "human factor" in ship’s energetic system. Reducing the number of ship crews leads to the accumulation of fatigue, distraction of the attention of ship operators (masters) in the process of increasing the intensity of carrying out cargo operations on the ship. A significant share of tanker fleet accidents occurs as a result of loss of control over the volume of bulk cargo that is accepted in each tank of the vessel. The operator's lack of accurate information about the state of each tank’s filling at the current moment of time leads to the risk of overflowing of a separate tank, which, in turn, can cause the spillage of bulk cargo, for example, petroleum products on the ship's deck and on the water surface of the port's water area. The relevance of these problems determines the direction of this research. For constant dynamic monitoring of the tanker parameters’ conformity during loading operations, considering parameters that maximally satisfy the requirements of maritime safety and taking into account all restrictions, such as the maximum permissible volumes of oil cargo in tanks, the current study proposes to use a mathematical model and create a system for automatic control of tanker loading. Keywords: oil cargo, tanker, level gauges, safety factor, loading control, mathematical model.
Read full abstract