All of Stanlow’s crude oil arrives at Tranmere Oil Terminal by tanker, a total of 9 million tonnes a year.
Tranmere Oil Terminal is situated on the West side of the River Mersey, 1½ miles south of Birkenhead and opposite the Albert Dock Complex and Liverpool City centre.
Opened on 8 June 1960 to handle vessels of up to 65,000 tonnes, at present it is capable of handling cargo sizes up to 170, 000 tonnes on part laden Very Large Crude Carriers (VLCCs).
9 million tonnes of crude oil a year arrive at Tranmere.
There are two berths (Tranmere North and South) used to unload the oil to storage tanks within the terminal, after which it is pumped 15 miles by pipeline to Stanlow. There are also monthly import cargoes of Ultra Low Sulphur Diesel (ULSD). Tranmere handles a total of 140 ships each year.
80KT for Crude and 40 KT for ULSD.
All oil tankers are double hull, including specialised North Sea offtake vessels and occasional Very Large Crude Carriers (VLCCs) with part cargo.
Stanlow refinery processes mainly North Sea Crude Oils, e.g. Forties, Ekofisk, Gullfacs, DUC, Brent, with increasing volumes from the Mediterranean and West Africa.
Vessels are scheduled to berth on high water tide only, with departure from the berth permitted either four hours or one hour before high water. Senior Liverpool Pilots are assigned to pilot all vessels.
At least two tugs are used for the berthing or unberthing of all crude oil tankers with three in use for vessels over 50,000 tonnes dwt. All procedures for vessels bound for Tranmere are covered by formal agreements with the Liverpool Pilots Service and Peel Ports.
Safety is an absolute priority at Tranmere, and all practicable steps are taken to prevent incidents of any type, with systems and procedures in place to detect fire or leaks of substances and to raise the alarm.
Measures preventing such releases are taken into account during the design, construction and maintenance of the tanks and equipment at the Terminal, with the highest industry standards applied throughout.
Marine facilities associated with the Stanlow Manufacturing Complex comprise three distinct facilities. These are:
