How to avoid excessive water amount at crude oil cargo?

How to avoid excessive water amount at crude oil cargo?

It is important for an operator to keep in mind that if the ballast is to be discharged at the discharge port simultaneously to loading, it is recommended to ensure that representative samples of each type of ballast to be discharged are taken and sealed by cargo inspectors. If free water is found upon loading, lodging a Letter of Protest is important in any event, regardless of the content provided by the Certificate of Quality. However, once confronted with a claim for net outturn cargo shortage because of excessive free water, it is crucial to be able to provide evidence showing the origin of the free water to be shore-based. Therefore, it is important to have samples retained of all free water having been found at different stages. In addition, top, middle and bottom or running samples should also be drawn from each tank enabling to ascertain what water was retained in suspension.