Inert Gas System Live Run on the M/T Ken Villamor Simulator
Watch a full inert gas system run in the simulator: start-up, O2 control, delivering gas, inerting, topping up, a deck-seal alarm drill and shutdown.
I am Ken Villamor, founder of Rigel Marine Solution. I spent 10 years at sea and today I handle the operations of 60 vessels as a fleet operation officer. In this video I run the inert gas (IG) system in the M/T Ken Villamor simulator from start to finish, using the real controls on the IG page.
The steps in the video
- Standby. The plant is checked and ready before anything starts.
- Start-up. Open the uptake valve, then the blower suction and discharge, with the recirculation valve open so the gas goes back and not to deck.
- Recirculate until the O2 is right. Gas is only sent to deck when the oxygen is below 5 %. The plant trips at 8 %.
- Deliver gas to deck. Open the gas regulating valve (GRV) and the deck isolating valve. The gas flows through the deck water seal into the IG main.
- Inerting. With the mast riser open, the tanks are inerted while you watch each tank's O2, pressure and hydrocarbon (HC) readings.
- Topping up. Close the mast riser so the IG main builds pressure, at about 760 to 790 mmWG in the run.
- Deck-seal low-water drill. The deck seal low-level alarm comes up, and the water level is restored before carrying on.
- Shutdown. The plant is stopped and the valves closed in the right order.
Why it matters for tanker crew
The IG system keeps the cargo tanks out of the flammable range. A wrong valve order or a missed O2 reading can send air-rich gas to the tanks, and a dry deck seal can let cargo gas back toward the engine room. Practising the order of steps and the alarm response on a screen, before doing it on board, builds the habit safely.
The simulator is aligned with IMO Model Course 2.06, 1.01, 1.02 & 1.37 training objectives and modeled on STCW Reg V/1-1 and ISGOTT operational principles. For more on the deck seal itself, read the IGS deck seal post.
Try it yourself
Run the IG system yourself on any laptop or tablet, with RIGEL guiding you step by step. See the plans in the store.
Practise it in the simulator
Try this on the M/T KEN VILLAMOR tanker simulator, in your browser or on the Windows app.
Open the simulatorMore posts
The IGS deck seal: what it does and what to watch
Why the inert gas deck water seal matters, how it stops gas flowing back to the engine room, and the checks to make on every watch.
RIGEL: an instructor inside the simulator
Give RIGEL a task, let it teach you step by step, or ask it questions. How Task, Guide and Chat mode work in the M/T KEN VILLAMOR simulator.