GRUPPO ERG

VESSEL ACCEPTANCE POLICY

Informazioni sul documento:

Redazione ERG Med – Pianificazione, Controllo e Attività Marittime
/verifica: ERG S.p.A. – Ambiente, Salute, Sicurezza e Ambiente
ERG S.p.A. – Affari Legali e Societari

Approvazione: Amministratore Delegato ERG S.p.A.

Consultazione: Tutto il personale ERG interessato

Enti e Società esterne al Gruppo interessate (a cura della Direzione Pianificazione,
Controllo e Attività Marittime)

Data: 28 aprile 2006 Versione: 1.2 Codice:

Responsabile aggiornamento del documento: Direzione Pianificazione, Controllo e Attività
Marittime
Periodicità di revisione del documento: Ad ogni cambiamento normativo, di “best practice”
dell’industry e comunque ogni 2 anni

Revisioni:
Data di
Versione Descrizione delle modifiche
approvazione
1.0 28/03/2003 Prima emissione
1.1 18/10/2004 Parziale revisione: estensione a tutte le navi della
conformità ai Minimum Safety Criteria, Vessel Inspection
Procedure, ecc.
1.2 28/04/2006 Inasprimento criteri di accettazione navi ed in particolare
esclusione “single hull vessel”.

Documento: Vessel Acceptance Policy

Data approvazione: 28/4/2006 1/5
1 GENERAL PRINCIPLES

ERG (for the purpose of this document the reference to ERG includes all ERG’s successors
and or affiliates, as the case may be) requires that all vessels which are tendered to Erg for
chartering or tendered to third parties for chartering to transport oil cargoes purchased or sold
by ERG are in compliance with “ERG Vessel Acceptance Policy".

Any declaration of a vessel compliance with the “ERG Vessel Acceptance Policy" does not
constitute any certifications whatsoever on the part of ERG , nor does it give the Owner or
Operator of the vessel the right to have the vessel chartered or employed by ERG , nor does it
impose on ERG any duty or obligation to charter or employ such vessel.

ERG (or any of their servants, agents or contractors) shall be under no liability whatsoever
to any Ship owner or Operator arising out or by reason of non-acceptance of a vessel.

In case ERG carries out an inspection of a vessel by means of its employees, agents or
contractors to verify compliance of such vessel with its "Vessel Acceptance Policy", such
inspection shall not impose on ERG any obligations to accept the subject vessel, nor any other
liabilities whatsoever.
It is ERG’s general policy neither to give ratings nor to issue letters, notices or certifications
of approval of the inspected vessels.

Neither inspection nor acceptance by ERG of a tendered vessel shall relieve or discharge any
Ship owner or Operator from the due performance of its obligations or from any liabilities
which may arise under any law, regulation, charter party, bill of lading or otherwise. Likewise,
neither inspection nor acceptance by ERG of a tendered vessel shall imply any transfer of duty
or responsibility from Ship owner or Operator to ERG.

2 GENERAL REQUIREMENTS

All vessels which are tendered to ERG for chartering or tendered to third parties for
chartering to transport oil cargoes purchased or sold by ERG are to be in compliance with:
a) International Conventions and Flag State laws and regulations
b) Classification Society, Port State and Local Authority regulations
c) Provisions and recommendations of the maritime industry (IMO, OCIMF, ICS, SIGGTTO,
ISGOTT, ISPS,etc.)
d) Appropriate procedures, log books and training records covering pollution prevention,
safety, navigation, cargo handling, mooring and tank cleaning, good-housekeeping, etc.
e) Appropriate procedures and records of incidents/failures and related investigations
Non compliance with points a), b) c), d), e) will automatically make the vessel not
acceptable to ERG.

Documento: Vessel Acceptance Policy

Data approvazione: 28/4/2006 2/5
3 ACCEPTANCE

All vessels which are tendered to ERG for chartering or tendered to third parties for
chartering to transport oil cargoes purchased or sold by ERG need to be accepted by ERG
It is ERG ’s general policy not to accept vessels older than 25 years (twenty-five).

All vessels tendered to ERG for chartering or tendered by third parties for chartering to
transport Crudeoil will be only taken into consideration if double hull construction .
Vessel over 20 y.o. tendered to ERG for chartering or tendered by third parties for chartering
to transport clean products taken only in consideration if CAP 1 and after ERG vetting visit.
Conventional age reduced will be considered only after ERG vetting visit and only for
carriage of products different from crudeoil and fuel oil.
OBO should be considered if not older than 10 years and inspected directly by ERG

On the basis of Reports and Results of recent inspections and/or other available information
collected from different sources, including “ERG Safety Inspection Reports” and Sire
Reports, ERG may, at its sole and unquestionable discretion, decide the following:
1. to give its acceptance for the vessel
2. to reject the vessel
3. to request an inspection of the vessel to verify compliance with ERG “Marine
Safety Criteria”

A vessel, tendered for chartering to ERG, or tendered to third parties for chartering to
transport oil cargoes purchased or sold can be considered by ERG if:
• vessel is in compliance with “ERG Marine Safety Criteria” on the basis of reports
and results of recent inspection (OCIMF Vessel Inspection Questionnaire).In case
of unavailability of the aforementioned data or if the aforementioned data are not
considered adequate by ERG (e.g. change of classification society, change of owner
ship/operator, operational incidents, port state detention, less than satisfactory
vessel performance reports received from marine terminals, SIRE reports older
than 6 months, any other relevant factor), vessel compliance should be ascertained
by ERG or its representatives through an inspection.

Furthermore is strongly reccomended:

• Vessels carrying flammable petroleum products should be fitted with an IG System
and shall operate all times with inert tanks
• All vessels should operate in the Closed Operation Mode. At least one dipping point
must be fitted with vapour lock. All cargo/dipping measurements, sampling, water
and temperature detection should be carried out under close system
• Chemical and oil tankers should be provided with a fixed fire detection and alarm
and an fixed deck foam system in accordance with SOLAS .
• Vessels must be free of oustanding items on Class Survey Status and ESP Condition
Evaluation Report ,no structural items or degraded steel condition or extensive
coating breakdown must be reported
• Sbt vessels ,hight level alarm and overflow controll system
• Cargo tanks should not be loaded above 98% volume or above the OCS sensor(for
gas carrier the OCS sensor should activate the alarm,stop all cargo pumps and
compressors and close the tank filling valves)

In addition to the above, it is ERG’s general policy to employ on time charter basis or
consecutive voyage basis vessels not older than 15 years, double hull (DH) ; vessels older
than 15 years can be considered for the acceptance only when inspected by ERG or its
representatives. In this case it is ERG’s policy to inspect twice a year such vessels.

Documento: Vessel Acceptance Policy

Data approvazione: 28/4/2006 3/5
4 VETTING and SAFETY INSPECTION

4.1 VETTING INSPECTION

A vessel tendered for chartering or tendered to third parties to transport oil cargoes,
gas or chemical to ERG, could be inspected independently from the age

A new vessel should be accepted only for a single voyage if a positive report is available
on SIRE database and if complies with ERG ACCEPTANCE POLICY

The inspection request will be sent from Owner /Operator to:

ERGMED
Via de Marini 1
16149 Genoa ITALY
ph ++39-010-2401-257
fax ++39-010-6424-119
E-mail vetting@erg.it

In the request Owner/Operator must indicate:

1. Vessel’s name
2. Vessel operation and product(s)
3. Owner details as follow:
• Company name
• Full Address
• V.A.T. Number (If EU Countries)
4. Port and update ETA
5. Agent’s name with full address,

ERG will confirm the availability for the inspection to Owner / Operator and communicate
the Inspector’s name and date on which the inspection will be performed

ERG has the right to refuse the inspection

ERG will inspect the vessel in agreement with OCIMF VESSEL INSPECTION
QUESTIONNAIRE. Inspections will be carried out only by OCIMF-SIRE accredited ERG’s
inspectors. All report will be submitted into SIRE System.
At the end of inspection the non conformities will be discussed with the vessel’s master.

INSPECTION COST will be for owner account:

¾ Extra cost like boat helicopter etc will be arranged by Agent/Owner and cost/s will
be for Owner account
¾ Extra cost for inspections during week -end or holiday will be not applied

Documento: Vessel Acceptance Policy

Data approvazione: 28/4/2006 4/5
 Ship’s documents

Master will give to Inspector the following certificate in copy:

1. Vessel particular questionnaire (OCIMF Form)
2. IOPP certificate plus form B
3. Class certificate
4. Last structural survey (if under ESP)
5. CAP’s certificate ( if any)
6. Listing of survey
7. Crew list

ERG has established its own “Marine Safety Criteria” which is broadly based on OCIMF
guidelines and, in particular, on the discretionary use of “OCIMF Vessel Inspection
Questionnaire”.
Compliance with ERG Minimum Safety Criteria does not give at the Owner the right to have
the vessel chartered or employed by ERG

In any cases it is ERG’s general policy neither to give ratings nor to issue letters, notices
or certifications of approval of the inspected vessels offered or tendered for chartering to
ERG or third parties.

The Operator must promptly notify to ERG any change in Classification Society,
Ownership, Management or Flag.

When significant number of “non compliance” is identified, the ship will be regarded as
re-inspected. In such case the vessel may not be considered even after corrective action
has been taken.

4.2 SAFETY INSPECTION

On the basis of all available information collected by ERG from different sources, ERG
may, at its sole and unquestionable discretion, decide to carry out the “Safety Inspection”
at ERG ’s terminals, for vessels which are chartered by ERG or by third parties by ERG
employess,agents or contractors. Such activity of Safety Inspection will be carried out,
without limiting in any way the responsibilities of the Ship owner/Operator, in order to:
• furtherly improve coordination between vessels and terminals during loading and
discharge procedures;
• minimize the risk of oil spills during loading and discharge procedures;
• minimize the risk of vapor emissions during loading and discharge procedures;
• verify, by continuous monitoring, the loading and discharge operations;
• minimize the risk of unsafe operations or procedures.

INSPECTION COST will be for ERG account

The evidence of the Safety Inspection (“ERG Safety Inspection Report”) will be
considered to evaluate the future acceptability of the vessel.

Documento: Vessel Acceptance Policy

Data approvazione: 28/4/2006 5/5