What is the BLU Code, and how does it keep a bulk carrier safe during loading and unloading?

flowchart LR
  A["Information exchange before arrival (section 3)"] --> B["Suitability of ship and terminal confirmed (section 2)"]
  B --> C["Agreed loading or unloading plan and ship-shore safety checklist (section 4)"]
  C --> D["Operation to the plan: ballast in step, stresses monitored (sections 5 and 6)"]
  D --> E["Deviation: stop, agree, record"]

• What: the Code of Practice for the Safe Loading and Unloading of Bulk Carriers (A.862(20), 1997), recommendatory but given force by SOLAS VI/7: master and terminal representative agree a plan within the ship’s limits.
• Why: terminals load thousands of tonnes an hour; wrong sequence, too fast, uneven, or deballasting that cannot keep pace over-stresses the hull girder (shear forces and bending moments).
• Six sections: 1 definitions; 2 suitability of ship and terminal; 3 information exchange before arrival; 4 the agreed plan and the ship-shore safety checklist; 5 loading with ballast handling; 6 unloading with ballast handling; the annexes give the forms.
• Key messages: an agreed, documented plan; shear force and bending moment limits never exceeded (loading instrument); communication, and either side can stop the operation.
• As Chief Engineer: the ballast plant (pumps, lines, eductors) must match the agreed rate, or the plan fails and the hull is over-stressed; I support the loading-instrument monitoring.