INTERTANKO

NEW BUILDING VETTING POLICY SUMMARY

The INTERTANKO vetting committee compiled a working group during 2003 to collate the various
and different charterers requirements with regard to New Buildings. It had been reported to the
Vetting Committee that members were encountering difficulties with new buildings in securing the first
charter for the vessel when newly leaving the ship yard.

The Oil companies have different requirements with regards to what will be accepted or not accepted
when chartering a new building, some of the concerns expressed related to the need for the vessel to
load and discharge a cargo first before the vessel will be utilised, this of course creates a "catch 22"
situation whereby the ship cannot load or discharge a cargo without first gaining acceptance from the
oil company, who will not give acceptance until the vessel has first loaded and discharged a cargo.

The INTERTANKO vetting committee therefore set out to collate the various requirements and list
these in a single document, where replies were received.

INTERTANKO stresses that these are of course without guarantee and subject to change
without notice but were up to date at the end of 2003.

We are grateful to the oil companies that have responded to our requests for this information

New BuildingPolicy - Comments

Company Comment
BP Shipping The BP Group has a process which allows for New Build vessels to
Mr. Tony Sullivan be used without physical inspection for a maximum period of up to 3
months during which time the vessel is expected to have undergone a
fully operational SIRE inspection. It must be stressed that the BP
Group will only use this process with ship owners and operators of
known good quality. It is only used when there is a strong possibility
that a charterer may show an interest in the vessel.

Upon notification of the proposed use of a new build vessel by a BP

Charterer a copy of the newbuild questionnaire is despatched to the
owner/manager.

The Owner/Manager is requested to complete the questionnaire and

warrant that the vessel complies with the following:-
The Crew is experienced with similar vessel or have the
necessary training/familiarisation;
The building process has been adequately superintended;
All cargo systems have been tested and proved operational;
All tanks cleaned and checked for debris before leaving the
yard.

The completed questionnaire is then assessed by the Ship Vetting

Team and acceptability determined. This should be done in
combination with consideration of the status of the managers' other
vessels and any other relevant information/feedback. Non completion
of the questionnaire would disqualify the vessel from acceptance.
The vessels operator will then be informed of the time in which they
should organise a full SIRE inspection.

As with any vessel there are no periods of approval as all possible

uses are screened beforehand.

BHP - Mr. Jimmy Leong Kindly note that BHPBilliton do not have any special Policies
 regarding new build tankers and also do not pre- approve vessels for
charter or calling into BHPBilliton Operated terminals. All vessels,
(new build or existing ) are screened each and every time they are
nominated for a particular purpose with all the latest information on
hand like, load ports, discharge port, cargo types, quantity, SPM or
STS or berth and every other available details like completed
terminal's questionnaires for vessel, last BHPBilliton inspection report,
owner's responses to observations, other market sources on the
vessels, etc...

BHPBilliton have inspected many new build tankers in the

construction yards prior to nomination for BHPBilliton charter or
berthing into BHPB Operated Terminals.

The inspection time frame for tankers for BHPBilliton as follows :

Vessels greater than 15 years old every 6 months
Vessels berthing into BHPB Liverpool Bay, UK every 12
months
Vessels less than 15 years old every 18 months

ChevronTexaco ChevronTexaco for the most part sticks to a 6 month time frame after
Scott M. Webb a vessel has been delivered to its operators. We like to see the
vessel have a few voyages completed. This allows the operator to
work out any issues in regards to equipment, training, ect. We also
look for a SIRE inspection and prefer one during discharge of cargo.

However, the above are our guidelines. We have accepted vessels

prior to the 6 month depending on factors such as:
Experience with owner/operator and their fleet.
Officers have time with vessel during the yard as well as
bringing it into service.
Type of transaction (FOB / DES ).

ConocoPhillips At this time (we are updating our policies) we do not specifically
Captain Ralph Rohena designate new builds as a separate catagory. We evaluate what
information is available to ascertain the risk. Where the ship is built,
owner / operator etc. may take on greater importance.

El Paso - Imran Khan A new building can be acceptable for El Paso spot business, delivery
into an EP terminal or nominated for a FOB load from an EP terminal,
for a period of 03 months immediately after delivery provided the
vessel is operated by a company that has been evaluated by El Paso
be a safe operator. This takes into account the number, age, type of
other tank vessels operated, detention record for the fleet,
management company if any, casualty reports etc, and the safety
record as per PSC and OCIMF inspection reports. We believe any
SIRE within 3 months of delivery is of little value, same way as an ISM
audit has no value within 3 months of taking over a vessel etc.
However if there is a SIRE available for this initial period, it will also be
taken into account to evaluate the vessel. If a new building is being
considered for Time Charter then we will need to inspect the vessel
as soon as possible, preferably at the first discharge port before a
final decision can be made.

Citgo Bob Williams We have no "new build" policy and treat same as any other ship.
Build it and we will come.

IMT - Tim Knowles Vessels on their fist cargo voyage are considered by us to present a
higher risk profile than on subsequent voyages. This higher risk profile
 comes from observations that new crew members may not be fully
familiar with cargo, navigation or propulsion equipment and that
problems may also arise from defects that have not been found and
rectified in the ship trials. We also recognise how difficult it is to
ensure that non of the above arise.

Our preference is therefore not to take ships on their fist cargo

voyage.

This is a position that we have stated, held and explained over many
years.

International Marine We roughly allow three months or three discharges for inspection of
Transportation Ltd. new vessels after delivery but this is not hard and fast rule as the
Capt.S.A.Rahim decision taken is on case by case basis. Commercial interest of a
particular vessel plays a major role in deciding to inspect or evaluate
new vessel during first discharge. Our main reason for allowing intial
period prior to inspection is to allow the vessel and personnel to settle
down with operating procedures and its operation.

Preem Petroleum AB Reference to your email regarding "New Build Policy" please find
Capt Ulf C Holmberg below Preem Petroleum AB vetting policies in general and our
acceptance of NB:

Acceptance criteria for tankers. OBO.s and LPG vessel are that the
Vessels must be below 25 years of age for dwt > 3000 tonnes and 30
years of age for the smaller size.

Condition Assessement Program (CAP) certificates or Condition

Survey (CS) certificates are requiered for all vessels of age above 20
years.

For acceptance status by Preem all vessels must be registerd in the

Ship Information System (SIS) database. This database is commonly
operated between the four partners Statoil/Preem/ Norsk
Hydro/Phillips Petroleum (UK). Valid SIS questionnaire must be
registered and the vessels must be pre-inspected by an OCIMF
accredited inspector.

Preem presently give 12 month acceptance periods after inspection.

OCIMF Sire reports may be used for quality check and extention of
acceptance periods when required.

We are as charterers of course well aware of the difficulties and

Problems arising around acceptance of new buildings direct out from
builders yard. There are no written policy in our "Procedure for Preem
Acceptance" for new buildings, however we charter and have
chartered A number of vessels on their maiden voyages during the
past years. Most of these deals have been made with Owner friends
on contrctual basis with Preem, but also with Owners well known to
us. These vessels have been granted Preem acceptance for one
single voyage only, based on SIS questionnaire and inspection during
cargo operations at our refineries / terminals. Sire reports have been
used if such have been available.

Kuwait Petroleum Italy - Our Vessel Acceptance Policy does not include a specific issue
Ignazio Buonomo regarding new build vessels.

We cover the risks connected to ship's maiden voyage with the

provision of a "cargo expediting".
 The Survey will cover supervision of cargo operation and a verification
of efficiency of all associated equipment (including Safety, Pollution
prevention, Cargo, Venting etc.) and compliance with all concerned
requirements/regulations.

This supervision will be performed in accordance with OCIMF

standards. Each vessel is, however, evaluated on a case by case
basis.

Shell International Trading STASCO New build Procedures as follows:-

and Shipping Company
Limited We operate a strict policy of positive vetting, in short if not seen then it
Capt. David Cotterell is not used this applies equally to new buildings. We will inspect a
vessel at the builders yard under the following conditions

The construction is complete, the ship is manned, the owners safety

management system and owners supply safety equipment is in place
and that owners have agreed the right with the yard to test critical
items of equipment. (i.e. those expected under a SIRE inspection).
The class surveys have taken place and copies of all relevant
certification is available. (Interim certificates are quite acceptable).

The inspection is carried out under the principals of OCIMF SIRE and
the resulting inspection is lodged on the SIRE database. As with all
inspections the results determine the acceptability of the ship for
business, but unless the result was negative the ship would then be
eligible for our normal vetting checks if and when it was offered for
business. As we have a keen interest in new buildings we prioritise
such inspections whenever requests are received. As it is rarely
possible to test and verify the integrity of the cargo system during
initial inspection we further require to view a discharge port inspection
report (by ourselves or any other SIRE submitting member) to move
the ship from new building to normal status in our vetting system.
Our preference is to inspect as close as possible to the ship leaving
the yard but we are well aware this is not always practical. We would
also encourage owners to lodge a VPQ with OCIMF as soon as
possible, you may be aware that VPQ's are no longer tied to an
inspection report and that accredited inspectors have the ability to
download them prior to boarding the vessel.

Statoil - Ragnar Halvorsen Our general rule for new building (tankers) is that we need a filled in
Statoil questionnaire for the vessel and a pre-inspection.

Following to be met with regards to pre-inspection:

1. The vessel has left the yard.

2. All crew and officers are on board.
3. All licenses (crew/officers) and vessels certificates are available.
4. All safety equipment in place.
5. Managers policy on board/established. Checklists/files
established.
6. Test reports of technical equipment available.
7. Class reports available, i.e. list of surveys , conditions and
memorandas.

(If OBO carrier, we need to have an office vetting , in advance, of the

technical Managers if we have not done said office vetting in the
past).
Tesoro - Marc Bayer Tesoro does not have a formal written new build policy. Our decision
is based on our experience with the owner/operator with of the new
ship.

Cepsa No reply received

ENI No reply received
ENEL No reply received
FLOPEC No reply received
KOCH No reply received
MARATHON No reply received
PETRONAS No reply received
PMI No reply received
REPSOL No reply received
TOTAL A.M No reply received
VALERO No reply received