Technical specifications
Kulevi Marine Terminal is designated for the transshipment of oil and oil products, for the intermediate storage of fuel oil, crude oil and diesel with its further loading to vessels.
The Terminal, with respect to its functionality, is a transshipment point, transport measures – refers to railway and water, annual freight turnover – 1st Class Terminal, and overall storage capacity – 1st Class Warehouse.
Up to present it has already transshipped over 15,314,361 mln tons of oil and oil products. It has been one of a number of achievements gained owing to hard work of hundreds of people including the personnel of the Terminal, the shareholders as well as governments of Georgia and Azerbaijan.
The Terminal is equipped with 2 double-line trestles that provide simultaneous discharge of 168 railway tank cars. Both bottom and upper discharge can be carried out on the trestles. Delivered products are heated by means of circulation of hot product warmed up in heat exchangers.
In May of 2012, SOCAR commissioned the railway station Parto Tskali. Parto Tskali, including of 5 railway lines, was constructed by SOCAR with the purpose of optimizing the process of unloading tank cars cargo for transshipment through Kulevi. The station is able to receive up to 270 cisterns simultaneously. Parto Tskali is located only in 1.5 km away from the terminal. Chaladidi station, which is 20 km away from the terminal, had been used before. The new station enables to accelerate the discharge of tank cars by 4 hours and thus delayed supplies at the Terminal are avoided, and this considerably increases total throughput capacity of the complex. Annual saving gained from operation of Parto Tskali totals 680-690 thousand USD which used to be spent on maintenance of locomotives and transportation along the Chaladidi-Kulevi route.
All products are stored in the tank park, which consists of 16 reservoirs with a total capacity of 320,000 m3. In the future, it is planned to increase this up to 380,000 m3.
There are three operating one-entry berths at the terminal. Two of them are used for the loading of tankers and the third one is used for the anchorage of the auxiliary fleet. The terminal is able to receive Aframax-class tankers with a DWT of up to 105,000 tons.
The berths are equipped with pumps with the capacity to process of 7,000-8,000 cubic meters per hour. This allows loading of 100,000 tons in approximately 11 hours.
Dredging work is regularly carried out by dredgers in the water area of the port. The current depth of the access channel in Kulevi is about 15 meters.
The loading performance can range between 8,000 to 12,000 m3/h.
For discharge of diesel fuel and low-viscosity oil from tank cars, the loading of diesel fuel to tankers, and for the discharge of mazout and viscous oil from tank cars, there are three pump stations.
The startup (since June 2012) of the newly-built complex designed for the transshipment of butylene-butadiene fraction and propylene has greatly increased the international significance of the terminal.
The discharge capacity of the trestles is 20 cisterns. The product is loaded into gas carriers directly from the cisterns via the nitrogen compressor unit that was built at the terminal.
In 2008 the Terminal was certified in ISO 9001 (Quality Management System), ISO 14001 (Environmental Management System) and OHSAS 18001 (Occupational Health and Safety Management System), which means that the entire management system processes fully meet the international standard requirements.
Successful business development strategy and compliance with international standards attracted such a considerable crude oil carrier as Tengizchevroil and since May 2010 KULEVI OIL TERMINAL commenced transshipment of crude oil as well.
Market participants consider Kulevi to be one of the main competitive ports in fight for transit flows of oil and gas products.
Transshipment of oil products through Kulevi increased in 2011 at the expense of supplies coming from Turkmenistan.
All technical characteristics of the Terminal and its management system compliance with international standards provide very safe, harmless and efficient transshipment operations.
The list of achievements that KULEVI OIL TERMINAL has attained since putting into operation is rather long. This is the result of firmness, tenacity and collaborative efforts of both experienced management and highly qualified personnel. Therefore, KULEVI OIL TERMINAL and PORT today is a proof of stable development which means that it excellently defines and achieves assigned goals.
The park #2 and two reservoirs of the park #3 have been fully commissioned for storage of Tengiz oil. The Terminal is ready to provide services on separate storage of different sorts of oil including Kashagan oil. The Tank Park is connected to berths by a pipeline system.
Safe, Harmless and Efficient
The “Safe! Harmless! Efficient!” principle is applied to the Black Sea Terminal LLC management system. This has been the case from the very beginning and reflects the company’s main objectives in its quest to prevent accidents, workplace injuries and environmental pollution, as well as to provide quality services that routinely exceed customer expectations.
To comply with these principles and achieve these objectives, KULEVI OIL TERMINAL has established and is continually improving its Integrated Management System in compliance with international standards (ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and OHSAS 18001). The KULEVI OIL TERMINAL Integrated Management System was certified in all three standards by a UKAS accredited certification body – Moody International LLC 6 months after operation began.
KULEVI OIL TERMINAL Management considers a healthy workforce as the main basis for a successful business. The health insurance program implemented by KULEVI OIL TERMINAL allows employees to use all necessary resources including periodic health monitoring, medevac, medicaments, and specialist’s advice. The company also operates a 24 hour healthcare facility, fully equipped to render first-aid patient and to provide consultation services. Our qualified health team members conduct the periodic sanitary inspection of workplaces and the canteen to ensure compliance with sanitary–hygiene norms and food safety requirements. Health awareness campaigns and sessions are regularly conducted by the health team members to increase employees’ awareness of health issues. First-aid arrangements are easily available in company facilities and most of the employees are trained in first-aid.
KULEVI OIL TERMINAL is committed to conducting business in a manner that protects the safety and health of its employees, contractors and local community. As a main tool to prevent accidents and occupational injuries, KULEVI OIL TERMINAL has implemented and continuously improves its hazard identification and risk assessment process. The company ensures that hazard identification and risk-assessment is conducted prior to the start of any activity, as well as changes in company processes.
All non-routine company operations are conducted under the Permit to Work system requirements, and a comprehensive discussion is arranged between workers and the site authorities before any project starts.
Periodic site audits and safety inspections are conducted to evaluate the level of compliance with the company's Safe Operating System requirements.
Considering the importance of behavioral safety, KULEVI OIL TERMINAL has implemented the Safety Observation Card system, where all company employees are encouraged to halt any unsafe actions observed. As an integral part of employee consultation and the participation in HSEQ issues, periodic safety meetings are conducted to introduce personnel with all newly-implemented procedures, policies, disciplines and lessons learned from incidents and safety alerts. Employees are encouraged to express their opinions concerning new procedures, policies, and to provide their suggestions for improvement of their working conditions.
All incidents and 'near-miss' cases are reported and investigated in order to define their immediate and root causes. Such investigations include recommendations and the necessary actions aimed at preventing the reoccurrence of such incidents.
Concern for the environment is one of KULEVI OIL TERMINAL's main responsibilities and is a long-standing commitment. On the other hand, the terminal's close vicinity to environmentally sensitive areas like Kolkheti National Park and marshlands covered under the Ramsar Convention increases the emphasis on effective environmental management. The HSEQ Department provides leadership on environmental issues and ensures that the company operates in an environmentally responsible manner. KULEVI OIL TERMINAL management has developed a broad array of requirements, procedures and plans to direct its commitment for environment protection. These include environmental monitoring and protection plans, environmental impact assessments, air, soil and water quality monitoring, hazardous materials and waste management procedures, as well as emergency response plans.
Although KULEVI OIL TERMINAL has never had major incidents, the company recognizes the value of emergency preparedness and has the capability to respond to incidents in railway, storage and port areas. The company established an emergency response plans that reflect different scenarios of possible emergencies. Regular emergency response drills are held to maintain a high level of preparedness. In addition to these trainings and drills, the company maintains all the necessary equipment for fire and oil spill response.
The quality of the services performed is essential for KULEVI OIL TERMINAL, as the company continuously aspires to improve quality services to meet higher customer satisfaction and meet their requirements and expectations.
The company management demonstrates its commitment to QMS by declaring its policy, which includes commitment to customer satisfaction, compliance with legal and other requirements, improving competences and qualifications of its staff and continual improvement.
Company management has made all necessary resources available for effective and efficient performance of its quality management system. Measurable objectives and targets are established for company services, and are subject to periodical reviews. The process approach is applied to all company activities and periodic internal and external audits are conducted to evaluate the management system’s compliance with applied international standards and declared commitments.
Company management is not limited only by achieved targets. From year to year company management analyses its performance and investigates initiatives for further improvement, which enforce all company employees to consider their responsibilities and try to do their best to stand for company achievements as a foundation of KULEVI OIL TERMINAL sustainable development.
