Safe Ship Operation
To safely transport petroleum and chemical products and ensure fleet-wide quality, Asahi Tanker has developed its own safety promotion system, including safety management rules and manuals based on international standards. In May 1994, the Company formed the Asahi Tanker Group Charter on Environment and Safety. With an organization and system that prioritizes safe operation and environmental conservation, we will continue to fulfill our social mission to carry petroleum and chemical products by maritime transportation.
Charter on the Enviorment
and Saftey
Safety Management System
Asahi Tanker promptly responds to accidents and also strengthens its safety management system, prevents accidents, and raises safety awareness. In addition, we work hard to strengthen the relationships with various stakeholders, establishing an internal environmental safety committee, a Shipowners’ Association, and an Environmental and Safety council with each shipping company. We systematically addressing various issues of safety and ship management, developing talented marine employees and safety managers, accumulating maritime know-how, and striving to develop next-generation technologies.
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Compliance with Safety Management Rules
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Safety Management Rules were formed based on the Act on Partial Revision of the Railway Business Act, etc. for Improvement of Transportation Safety. We established a safety management system under the leadership of top management according to the Safety Management Rules and strive to maintain and improve the safety of transportation. In addition, according to accident / incident processing standards of the Rules, we regularly conduct drills in which an accident response headquarters is established in preparation for serious incidents. Moreover, when the operation controller is absent, a proxy is specified in advance to ensure seamless safety control. Asahi Tanker also maintains and improves the PDCA cycle to strengthen safety management.
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Vessel Work Standards
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Asahi Tanker has created Vessel Work Standards (also known as the Green Book), which is a collection of work standards, to safely complete work from tanker operation to cargo handling. Compliance with the Green Book is ensured in all Group vessels. For key work, checklists (called Important Task Sheets) are used to ensure key work is completed without missing anything. Important Task Sheets are created for 14 types of work such as cargo handling and special voyages. These efforts to ensure the highest level of safety in the industry have received many compliments from customers as well.
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On-site Safety Management System
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Asahi Tanker has safety supervisor offices across Japan (Hokkaido, Chiba, Aichi, Tokuyama, Kikuma, Oita) to manage the safety of our vessels.
Safety Activity
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Ship Visits
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To enhance the effectiveness of the safety management system, we actively communicate with ship owners and crew members, and ensure and raise awareness of safety activities, through special ship visits twice a year in addition to regular ship visits*.
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*Special ship visit campaign
During the dense fog season in Japan (May-July) and busy transport season (year-end and new year), we specially visit ships to conduct an accident-free campaign through cooperation between land and sea, including encouraging and raising awareness of crew members. In addition, the information obtained through ship visits is quickly shared among the company to effectively conduct further safety activities.
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Award for Vessels with No Accidents
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As part of activity to increase safety awareness, Asahi Tanker provides awards to vessels without accidents for a certain length of time such as five or 10 years.
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Step-up Program
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For the purpose of enabling each vessel and ship owner to work hard together through friendly competition, the performance of each vessel is evaluated in detail for items such as safe operation and ship maintenance. Outstanding performance is reflected in the freight rates of the following year of the vessels as a bonus to raise the standards of vessel operation performance.
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Safety Check of Vessels in Earthquakes
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When a seismic event equal to or greater than 5-upper of the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) Seismic Intensity Scale occurs, Asahi Tanker checks the safety of its vessels in operation. We share the information with customers according to the situation.
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Establishment of Safety Day
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Asahi Tanker designated May 29 as Safety Day to always remember a serious accident that occurred in the past. Training sessions are held every year on this day to increase safety awareness. In addition, we hold on-board study sessions for each ship owner to further recognize the importance of safety.
Human resource development prioritizing safety
Many accidents are considered to be caused by human error. We believe that both improving human skills and focus on safety training should be given the utmost importance in order to ensure safe voyages, not only for ship crews, but also for onshore operators. Over the decades, in collaboration with the Marine Technical College, an educational institution for seafarers, we have provided multi-level training on tanker safety technology based on our own curriculum. In addition, we offer a unique program, training to address human error, and adopt the latest educational techniques, such as e-learning. For Filipino crews, who account for about 90% of international shipping crews, we provide our original training every year. We review our training and awareness-raising activities from time to time to ensure safety.
【 Training in cooperation with Japan Agency of Maritime Education and Training for Seafarers (JMETS) and Maritime Technical College (MTC) 】
Introductory Course
- Subject trainee
- All crew members boarding our group’s ships for the first time
- Description
- Environmental recognition
Basic knowledge of decks and engines
Beginner Course
- Subject trainee
- Crews aiming to be deck officers
- Description
- Knowledge and practical training of 6th grade maritime officer level
- Subject trainee
- Crews aiming to be engineers
- Description
- Knowledge and practical training of 6th grade maritime officer level
Intermediate Course
- Subject trainee
- Deck
- Description
- Basic knowledge of decks and practical training
- Subject trainee
- Engine
- Description
- Basic knowledge of engine and practical training
Advanced Course
- Subject trainee
- Officer
- Description
- Expert knowledge of decks and practical training
- Subject trainee
- Engineer
- Description
- Expert knowledge of engines and practical training
Practical Training
- Subject trainee
- Deck
- Description
- Bridge resource management (BRM) training
Safety Training
For the purpose of improving safety awareness and enhancing the safety management system, Asahi Tanker holds safety training during docking. In the training, challenges and requests are shared in person to build a safety promotion system where marine employees and ground members work in cooperation.
Safe Ship Operation
To safely transport petroleum and chemical products and ensure fleet-wide quality, Asahi Tanker has developed its own safety promotion system, including safety management rules and manuals based on international standards. In May 1994, the Company formed the Asahi Tanker Group Charter on Environment and Safety. With an organization and system that prioritizes safe operation and environmental conservation, we will continue to fulfill our social mission to carry petroleum and chemical products by maritime transportation.
and Saftey
Safety Management System
Asahi Tanker promptly responds to accidents and also strengthens its safety management system, prevents accidents, and raises safety awareness. In addition, we work hard to strengthen the relationships with various stakeholders, establishing an internal environmental safety committee, a Shipowners’ Association, and an Environmental and Safety council with each shipping company. We systematically addressing various issues of safety and ship management, developing talented marine employees and safety managers, accumulating maritime know-how, and striving to develop next-generation technologies.
Safety Management Rules were formed based on the Act on Partial Revision of the Railway Business Act, etc. for Improvement of Transportation Safety. We established a safety management system under the leadership of top management according to the Safety Management Rules and strive to maintain and improve the safety of transportation. In addition, according to accident / incident processing standards of the Rules, we regularly conduct drills in which an accident response headquarters is established in preparation for serious incidents. Moreover, when the operation controller is absent, a proxy is specified in advance to ensure seamless safety control. Asahi Tanker also maintains and improves the PDCA cycle to strengthen safety management.
Asahi Tanker has created Vessel Work Standards (also known as the Green Book), which is a collection of work standards, to safely complete work from tanker operation to cargo handling. Compliance with the Green Book is ensured in all Group vessels. For key work, checklists (called Important Task Sheets) are used to ensure key work is completed without missing anything. Important Task Sheets are created for 14 types of work such as cargo handling and special voyages. These efforts to ensure the highest level of safety in the industry have received many compliments from customers as well.
Asahi Tanker has safety supervisor offices across Japan (Hokkaido, Chiba, Aichi, Tokuyama, Kikuma, Oita) to manage the safety of our vessels.
Safety Activity
To enhance the effectiveness of the safety management system, we actively communicate with ship owners and crew members, and ensure and raise awareness of safety activities, through special ship visits twice a year in addition to regular ship visits*.
During the dense fog season in Japan (May-July) and busy transport season (year-end and new year), we specially visit ships to conduct an accident-free campaign through cooperation between land and sea, including encouraging and raising awareness of crew members. In addition, the information obtained through ship visits is quickly shared among the company to effectively conduct further safety activities.
As part of activity to increase safety awareness, Asahi Tanker provides awards to vessels without accidents for a certain length of time such as five or 10 years.
For the purpose of enabling each vessel and ship owner to work hard together through friendly competition, the performance of each vessel is evaluated in detail for items such as safe operation and ship maintenance. Outstanding performance is reflected in the freight rates of the following year of the vessels as a bonus to raise the standards of vessel operation performance.
When a seismic event equal to or greater than 5-upper of the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) Seismic Intensity Scale occurs, Asahi Tanker checks the safety of its vessels in operation. We share the information with customers according to the situation.
Asahi Tanker designated May 29 as Safety Day to always remember a serious accident that occurred in the past. Training sessions are held every year on this day to increase safety awareness. In addition, we hold on-board study sessions for each ship owner to further recognize the importance of safety.
Human resource development prioritizing safety
Many accidents are considered to be caused by human error. We believe that both improving human skills and focus on safety training should be given the utmost importance in order to ensure safe voyages, not only for ship crews, but also for onshore operators. Over the decades, in collaboration with the Marine Technical College, an educational institution for seafarers, we have provided multi-level training on tanker safety technology based on our own curriculum. In addition, we offer a unique program, training to address human error, and adopt the latest educational techniques, such as e-learning. For Filipino crews, who account for about 90% of international shipping crews, we provide our original training every year. We review our training and awareness-raising activities from time to time to ensure safety.
Basic knowledge of decks and engines
For the purpose of improving safety awareness and enhancing the safety management system, Asahi Tanker holds safety training during docking. In the training, challenges and requests are shared in person to build a safety promotion system where marine employees and ground members work in cooperation.
New Initiatives for Safe Operation
The key element in the safe operation of vessels is that crew members and ground employees share the same information and communicate with each other under the same safety awareness. As a tool to realize this element, Asahi Tanker began providing tablet computers to all crew in 2021. The tablet computers are used for online ship-to-shore meetings and e-learning. By increasing communication and training opportunities, we realize a system that enables safe operation. In addition, since tablet computer use allows crew members to become familiar with electronic devices, the crew members become capable of handling electronic documents which leads workload reduction.
Asahi Tanker launched operation of the AGREE application for ship-to-land information sharing in 2022. Ships, operators, and ship owners shared a wide variety of voyage related information such as updated schedule information and records of abnormal weather responses mainly by FAX or email. Therefore, an increase in efficiency via digitalization was pursued. Consequently, Asahi Tanker jointly developed the application with Grid co. for information sharing between ships and the land to further promote digital transformation (DX).
The ship side can enter a wide range of voyage related information intuitively in the application and operators and ship owners can confirm the entered information on a management screen on a PC. Collaborating some data with the main system of operators is expected to realize significant increases in work efficiency.
Aiming to increase the work efficiency of all related members, Asahi Tanker will continue to promote DX while upgrading the application.
We have developed a software program to enable members to virtually experience dangerous work that is too dangerous to be experienced in reality to increase the safety awareness of members and prevent similar unsafe actions.