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Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) is a clean, efficient, and economic energy, which is mainly transported by LNG carriers in the marine industry. Massive storage of LNG has led to public concern about the possible hazards of LNG carriers for people and facilities. This paper aims to determine the appropriate level of a safety zone and to develop an optimized traffic organization scheme. An innovative ECSO framework is proposed to deal with these two tasks. The results of the comparative analysis show that the influence degree of the optimized scheme is 21%, which is distinctly lower than the previous scheme (33%). To some content, the proposed framework can provide meaningful enlightenments for stakeholders to improve port service level and ensure the safe operation of LNG carriers.

Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) is a clean, efficient and economic energy, which is mainly transported by LNG carriers in the marine industry. Possible spilling of cryogenic LNG puts safety of crew in danger due to fire and explosion hazards. Taking into account various uncertainties, a modified fault tree model for LNG spill accident during LNG carriers’ handling operations is constructed in this study. Human factor analysis is introduced with a goal to predict human errors in LNG carriers’ handling operation. Finally, the results of the Fault Tree Analysis (FTA) and Human Reliability Analysis (HRA) are combined, so that risks can be assessed using Monte Carlo Simulation (MCS). Comparing the results of risk assessment with the traditional FTA and corresponding criterion set, an important reference for LNG carrier management is provided for administration.

The consumption rate of LNG has increased rapidly in recent years, which draws the demand for LNG carriers. Over the past ten years, the number of ongoing LNG carriers has increased dramatically while more carriers are expected to be built in the years ahead. This has led to public concern about the safety of the LNG carriers. In this paper, an overall risk identification for LNG carriers is conducted considering the hazards of LNG as a marine fuel and specific hazards to LNG carriers. Based on this, Fault Tree Analysis has been utilized for risk assessment of LNG carriers. By doing so, this paper provides important reference for shipping management authorities and policymakers on developing effective measures to control the identified hazards, so as to improve the safety level of LNG carriers.