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From Qaryatain, Barrel X flows another 229
kilometers over the plains of Jordan and Syria and the mountains of
Lebanon, finally arriving at the Sidon Terminal, Kilometer 1213.
KILOMETER 1213
On a rocky hillside south of Sidon, 350 feet
above the sea, a cluster of arrow-shaped signs shows the distances to
the various pump stations in kilometers and miles.
This is Kilometer 1213, which marks the end of
the pipeline and the beginning of the terminal operation. At this
point, a system of friction tubes reduces the pressure on Barrel X so
that it can flow safely into one of the terminal's twenty
180,000-barrel storage tanks.
A large manifold, operated from a loading
control center, guides the oil by gravity flow from the tanks into
underwater lines leading to four submarine loading berths, each about
1.5 kilometers offshore.
Mooring and loading the ships is a precise,
streamlined operation calling for ingenuity as well as highly
specialized skills. The tankers are directed to their berths, and the
loading is supervised by mooring masters who have had long experience
as qualified ship's masters and special training in mooring
operations. The Lebanese crews who, man the company's seven mooring
launches are skilled seamen in the ancient tradition of their
sea-going ancestors.
Tapline was one of the first marine oil
terminals to provide for radio contact with ships from arrival to
departure. Sidon-bound tankers establish contact with the terminal
when they are within three days of port. A few kilometers from the
loading berths, a Tapline mooring master boards the arriving ships and
directs operations until the ship has
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been loaded and departs. Large lighted target panels along the
shoreline assist the mooring masters in guiding vessels to proper
berth positions, by day or by night.
After a safety inspection of the ship's tanks,
a connection is made between the ship's piping and flexible 12-inch or
16-inch loading hose which is permanently connected to the underwater
lines. Loading then begins. The 16-inch size was introduced to the
industry by Tapline. With 16-inch hose, tankers have been loaded at
Sidon at rates up, to 46,000 barrels an hour. A supertanker of 28,000
tons can be moored, take on its oil cargo and depart in approximately
12 hours.
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Community center,
Badanah. These main pump station buildings house a dining hall, snack
bar, theater, other recreation facilities.
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