Convent

Communications

All vessels shall monitor VHF radio channel 10, from the “Approach” buoy up to the “A” buoy, when under way in the approach channels to the Port of Ras Tanura and in the areas of Ju’aymah Crude Terminal, North Holding Anchorage and Ju’aymah NGL Terminal.

Vessels arriving at the Port of Ras Tanura shall monitor VHF channel 13 from the “A” buoy until Pilot boarding time; including time at anchor in the South Holding or Freighter anchorages. Vessels departing from the Port of Ras Tanura shall monitor VHF channel 13 from the time of disembarking the Pilot, up to the “A” Buoy.

For Ras Tanura Terminal; a constant listening watch should be maintained on VHF channels 16 and 13. Vessels will be called by Ras Tanura Port Control with berthing information and other instructions. Ras Tanura Port Control should be called on VHF channel 13 prior to weighing anchor.

All inbound vessels should maintain a listening watch on VHF channel 16 and 13 for Ras Tanura Port Control.

All outbound vessel after disembarking the Pilot or before leaving the tanker, anchorage vessels must maintain a listening watch on VHF channels 16 and 13 for Ras Tanura Port Control.

Pilots carry portable intrinsically safe radios, which operate on Saudi Aramco dedicated mooring channels for contact with tugs and jetty staff. In addition, the vessel’s VHF radio should be on standby on channel 13 for back up communications.

Standard messages

The vessel's reply must be entirely complete and in the correct order. Incorrectly formatted or unformatted messages can still be processed but the processing will be slower, requests for information may be often repeated and delays due to lack of information may be incurred.

Replies to messages should be sent as soon after receipt as possible.

Standard Arrival Message:

Message reads:

ZCZC

From:

Master______________________

Please contact; [email protected].

It is imperative that all questions are answered. The absence of any answer may incur a delay to the vessel's port turn around time. Questions not applicable to a particular vessel must be answered with the text of ''"NA". The remaining text is informative only and does not require a reply''. If loading Arab medium for the account of Banoco your ship must arrive with a maximum arrival draught of 16.37m plus tide and a maximum sailing draught of 19.48m plus tide. It is a requirement of the port that the propeller remains immersed and stern trim does not exceed 1.5 percent of the ship's length when at berth or when manoeuvring. Trim not to exceed 0.7% of ship's length when proceeding to SPM berths. Ensure that your vessel will comply. Imperative all vessels operating under early departure procedure copy HZY traffic list after departure until cargo quantities are resolved and agent is authorised to sign cargo documents.

If VHF aboard call Ras Tanura Port Control on Ch 16 or 10 for anchoring boarding and berthing instructions when 100 miles out. On arrival anchorage advise HZY official readiness time and anchored position. Radio messages without charge.

If no VHF aboard contact HZY 500kHz and copy traffic lists on odd hours for berthing instructions. On arrival at anchorage advise HZY official readiness time and anchored position. Radio messages without charge. Pilots require sufficient clean ballast for manoeuvring with propeller covered and trim limited to 4.6m for Ras Tanura Terminal and 2.4m for Ju'aymah Terminal. Saudi Aramco."

unquote.

Quote

"Master.

Ras Tanura Radio HZY. Please advise any epidemic disease or illness onboard and status of crew international certificates of immunisation and all ports called past 30 days also destination. Agent. Flag. Net registered tonnage. Vessel will not be allowed to berth until this information is received.

Saudi Aramco."

unquote

It is important that the master send a reply to the above messages as soon as possible after receipt.

Notice of readiness

At all terminals the Notice of Readiness (NOR) should be addressed to Saudi Aramco, Ras Tanura. Tendering time of NOR shall be sent through e-mail to Saudi Aramco Terminal Planner & agent.

After acceptance by the Harbour Pilot, the written NOR shall be submitted to Saudi Aramco through the vessel's agent when he boards the vessel for clearance procedures.

Any delay in tendering NOR to Saudi Aramco may result in berthing delays that will be for the vessel's account. An additional NOR is not required when loading patterns or conditions require that the vessel be shifted to another berth within the port, even though that berth may be at another terminal.

The NOR tendering time shall not be earlier than the vessel's arrival time within port limits. If the vessel berths on arrival, the NOR time shall be the pilot boarding time. The NOR will not be accepted until the vessel is fully secured to the berth.

Documents

Vessels will not be accepted for berthing until the quarantine information is received. Until that time, other vessel movements will be prioritised, including movements that could cause the vessel to lose its turn at berth.

Loading documents: The following documents must be completed for all vessels loading at the port of Ras Tanura. The information on the form will be used by Saudi Aramco to determine whether or not ship/shore comparisons after loading are within allowable vessel release tolerances.

Failure to complete the forms as required can result in incorrect ship/shore comparisons and may delay the release of the vessel.

Health

Pratique is granted upon berthing.

Customs and immigration

Customs allowances: There are no restrictions on personal effects but it should be noted that alcoholic beverages and pornographic material are not allowed. Penalties for non compliance depend on the magnitude of the violation.

Flags

Saudi Arabian flag: The flag of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia shall be flown from the foremast of the vessel by day and by night while in the port of Ras Tanura. The flag shall be clean and in good condition. Masters should obtain this flag before arrival, but if circumstances render this impossible, a flag must be obtained from the vessel's agent. Vessels not correctly flying the flag of Saudi Arabia will not be berthed.

Notices and regulations

Any of the above items onboard any vessel calling at the port of Ras Tanura shall be secured in appropriately locked store rooms which will be sealed by the authorities who may carry out inspections to ensure that the seals are intact and that none of the above articles are in use. The seals must remain intact during the entire period of the vessel's stay in the port of Ras Tanura and must not be broken until after the vessel has finally departed for a port in another country.

Smuggling, or trafficking in any of the above articles between vessels or between vessel's crews and shore personnel is strictly prohibited.

The baggage of crews joining and leaving vessels will be inspected to ensure that it contains none of the prohibited articles.

Safe loading depths: If at any time a vessel's draught approaches to within 1.0m of the depth of water at the berth at North or South Piers, loading will be suspended until a rising tide increases the depth to permit resumption of loading and provide for a safe draught of the fully loaded tanker on departure.

At the Sea Island berths, the max sailing draught is 19.4m plus the height of the tide above LAT, to a max of 21.0m, at the time of transiting the Deep Water Channel.

Penalties: Penalties for violations of Saudi Arabian Government Regulations are severe. They include capital punishment for drug smuggling or trafficking and considerable fines and/or delays to vessels for other offences.

Vessels over 25 years of age: Without exception, all vessels over 25 years of age, as reflected by the building date shown on the vessel's Certificate of Registration, must have an OCIMF SIRE Inspection report acceptable to Saudi Aramco dated within 1 year from the date of arrival of the vessel at any Saudi Aramco port or terminal. Failure to have a current, acceptable SIRE Report will cause the vessel to be rejected upon arrival, without further inspection, notice or recourse. Notwithstanding an acceptable SIRE Report, any uncorrected discrepancies noted in the Saudi Aramco VTMS Data Base may also be grounds for rejection of the vessel at Saudi Aramco's sole discretion.

Banned vessels: Any flagged vessel that causes pollution in any Saudi Aramco port or terminal, or is found on arrival to have serious uncorrected safety or operational deficiencies or violations of international safety standards may, at the discretion of the port captain, be permanently banned from entry into all Saudi Aramco ports and terminals.

Port State Control here: US Coast Guard.

Foreign ships are examined by the US Coast Guard. File the Advance Notice of Arrival 96 hours ahead (33 CFR 160).

ISPS

ISPS Designated Authority: United States Coast Guard, Office of Compliance. Address: 2100 Second St, SW, Washington DC, 20593, USA. Tel: +1 202 267 2978. Fax: +1 202 267 4858. Email: [email protected]. For further ISPS information see IMO website http://www2.imo.org/ISPSCode.

The port

Alliance is a sub-port of Plaquemines.

What time zone is Convent in?

Local time at Convent is UTC−6. Clocks go to UTC−5 on 14 Mar 2027. Back to UTC−6 on 7 Nov 2027.

Who carries out Port State Control at Convent?

Port State Control at Convent: US Coast Guard.

What is the UN/LOCODE of Convent?

The UN/LOCODE of Convent is USCEN.

What crews who called at Convent say: pilot boarding, the agent's papers, inspections, shore leave. Each tip is shown with the writer's rank and ship type, and an AI summary sits on top once there are three or more.

Read and add tips for Convent →