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PETROLEUM DIRECTORY: Crowley Alaska marks 50 years of service to the state Company has been in Alaska since 1953, in Arctic for almost that long, and has provided service to oil companies in Cook Inlet, on North Slope and at Valdez Craig Tornga, Crowley Alaska Special to Petroleum News Alaska
Two-thousand-and-three will mark Crowley’s 50th anniversary of service to the people and businesses of Alaska. During that time Crowley has consistently provided unique solutions to Alaska’s logistics and marine transportation challenges. From Anchorage to the North Slope, the Aleutians to remote river villages near the Canadian border, Crowley has played an important role in Alaska’s business development and in protecting its environment.
Crowley entered the Alaska market in 1953 when a Crowley company pioneered the use of barges to transport railcars between Ketchikan, Alaska, and Prince Rupert, British Columbia.
A few years later, Crowley began supplying the Distant Early Warning, DEW Line, radar installations for the U.S. Air Force, including sites on the Aleutian Chain and across the northern coast into Canada. It was the first penetration of the Arctic by commercial tug and barge service. Timing was critical because of the ice pack that remains close to shore near Point Barrow except for about six weeks during the summer. This accomplishment was a prelude to the development of the North Slope in later years.
When oil was discovered in Cook Inlet, first in the Swanson River Field onshore in 1957 and later offshore at McArthur River and other locations, oil industry officials called on Crowley to help tame the treacherous waters of the inlet. Huge tidal variations and 12-knot currents made a difficult chore of setting platforms without the high-horsepower tugs of today and no marine support structure was available. Crowley responded to both problems by pioneering a technique of rafting tugs together to achieve the necessary horsepower; establishing a company called Rig Tenders and dock near Kenai to furnish supply and crew boat services, and by building six ice-strengthened tug supply boats.
Company pioneers common carrier containers In 1958, Crowley became the first company to offer common carrier transportation of cargo in containers from the Lower 48 to Alaska. For many years, Crowley barges delivered containerized and general cargo to ports throughout the state, and the company continues to provide contract tug and barge services in support of infrastructure and resource development projects.
In 1963, Crowley commenced regular rail-barge operations, known as the Alaska Hydro-Train, for the Alaska Railroad. This service involved transporting rail cars by barge from Seattle to the Alaska Railroad terminal in Whittier.
Summer sealifts to Prudhoe When oil was discovered at Prudhoe Bay, the oil industry turned to Crowley. Beginning in 1968, utilizing the earlier pioneering experience in the Arctic, Crowley began the summer sealifts to Prudhoe Bay. Since then 334 barges carrying nearly 1.3 million tons of cargo have been successfully delivered to the North Slope, including modules the size of 10-story buildings and weighing nearly 6,000 tons.
In 1975, the Crowley sealift flotilla faced the worst Arctic ice conditions of the century. In fleet size, it was the largest sealift in the project’s history with 47 vessels amassed to carry 154,420 tons of cargo, including 179 modules reaching as tall as nine stories and weighing up to 1,300 tons each. Vessels stood by for nearly two months waiting for the ice to retreat. Finally in late September the ice floe moved back and Crowley’s tugs and barges lined up for the slow and arduous haul to Prudhoe Bay. When the ice closed again, it took as many as four tugs to push the barges, one at a time, through the ice.
In 2001, Crowley transported the largest modules ever made in Alaska from Anchorage to BP Exploration (Alaska) Inc.’s Northstar Island and oil field on the North Slope.
Contractor for Alaska Clean Seas Crowley tugs, barges, cranes and personnel have continued to support North Slope oilfield development and the protection of its environment. Crowley is the marine contractor for Alaska Clean Seas; an oil industry spill response cooperative funded by North Slope producers and the Alyeska Pipeline Service Co. In the summer, the company moves equipment and supplies over water, and provides crew boat shuttle service for the major oil producers.
In the winter, Crowley provides additional logistics support for oilfield development on the North Slope with Catco all-terrain vehicles. These heavy-lift overland transport units have large bag tires designed to work on the frozen tundra without damaging the delicate Arctic ecosystem. In the winter, Crowley employees use these vehicles along with drills and pumps to make ice roads and ice islands for oil exploration. When the weather warms, the ice melts and there is no trace that man was ever there.
Tanker escorts in Valdez At the southern terminus of the trans-Alaska pipeline, Crowley provides tanker escort and docking services in Valdez harbor for the Alyeska Pipeline Service Co. using some of the most technologically advanced and powerful tugboats in the world. During tanker escorts Crowley tugs are tethered to, or shadow, tankers in the event braking or steering assistance is needed. In 2001, Crowley tugs in Valdez stopped a tanker from colliding with a fishing boat and its nets that had been set across the Valdez Narrows shipping channel. In 2002, Crowley tugs secured a tanker that was experiencing mechanical problems and had to shut off its engines. In both cases the system worked and waters of Prince William Sound were protected.
Crowley has provided this tanker assist and escort service since 1977, and has positioned other vessels in the area to provide the world’s largest comprehensive spill prevention and response capability to Alyeska and its member companies. This program formed by Alyeska in July 1989, is commonly known as its Ship Escort Response Vessels System, Servs. Its function is to escort laden tankers through Prince William Sound and Hinchinbrook Entrance to Seal Rocks, to assist tankers in emergencies and to provide initial oil spill response.
Bulk fuel delivery In the mid-1980s, Crowley launched a service to transport, store and sell petroleum products throughout all of Alaska’s coastline and major Western Alaska river systems. Operating from tank farms in Nome and Kotzebue, the company provides direct delivery of bulk fuels and packaged petroleum products to more than 100 coastal and river villages throughout Alaska. During the warmer months, line-haul barges replenish tank farms and smaller lighterage barges carry fuel to remote villages, often beaching where no docks exist. Crowley also positions “fueler” barges in Bristol Bay for commercial fishing boats during the herring and salmon seasons.
Crowley’s Alaska fuel business is being expanded in 2003 with the construction of a tank farm in Bethel. Built in cooperation with the Bethel Native Corp., the facility will support commercial, aviation, government and individual fuel consumers in Bethel and outlying villages in the Yukon-Kuskokwim region.
Crowley Maritime Corp. Crowley Alaska is part of the Crowley Maritime Corp. family of companies. The corporation, founded in 1892 and headquartered in Oakland, Calif., is one largest and most diverse companies of its kind. Crowley companies are engaged in worldwide logistics, liner shipping services, energy support, project management, ocean towing and transportation, ship assist and escort, salvage and emergency response, petroleum and chemical transportation, fuel sales and distribution, ship management and vessel design-build technical services.
Throughout the last half-century, unique expertise and equipment have propelled Crowley Alaska into its position as a leader of quality, reliable and environmentally sound services. Whether its over-the-tundra transportation, supplying fuel in remote areas, providing project cargo services, tanker escort and assist services, or protecting the environment, people who know Crowley count on Crowley’s knowledgeable people to get the job done.
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