New oil spill response barge in Valdez

The Alyeska Ship Escort-Response System has added a new oil spill response barge to its Valdez fleet of vessels that stand ready to respond to an oil spill emergency at the Valdez Marine Terminal, or involving one of the tankers using the terminal. Converted from a regular cargo-carrying barge that had been located in Tacoma, Wash., the new barge is called the 450-6 and is operated by Crowley Marine, Tom Colby, marine team leader for Alaska Tanker Co. told Petroleum News. The 450-6 barge is similar in design to the other oil spill response barges in the Servs fleet.

“It was a barge built at around the same time as the others,” Colby said.

And, as with the other barges, the vessel is fitted out with a variety of spill response equipment, as well as having the capability of carrying oil recovered from a spill incident.

The new barge will provide more oil storage capacity for the Servs response fleet, to meet the planning standards of oil discharge contingency plans for tankers operating out of Valdez, Colby said. In April a consultant discovered an oil storage shortfall for the Valdez oil spill response barges. The discrepancy resulted from confusion between capacity measurement in cubic meters vs. measurement in metric tonnes, Colby said. The new barge rectifies that situation.

—Alan Bailey