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American Marine and Penco help industry protect the environment American Marine Corp. and Penco inspect, repair and maintain facilities ranging from subsea pipelines to onshore tank farms Alan Bailey PNA Contributing Writer
Few work situations pose more safety challenges than diving around oil installations in the murky waters of Alaska's Cook Inlet, or cleaning and testing the interiors of fuel tanks. However, these activities underpin the maintenance of Alaska’s aging oil infrastructure. The continuous inspection and maintenance of piping, tanks and other facilities ensure that oil products will not leak into the fragile, natural environment of Alaska.
The safety issues involved with either working in fuel tanks or diving in dangerous seas demand unique people with specialized skills, training and experience. The American Marine Services Group provides just such people, through American Marine Corp. and Pacific Environmental Corporation (Penco).
American Marine Services Group starts in Hawaii The American Marine Services Group started out in 1973 as American Divers, a small diving company in Hawaii.
By 1982 American Divers and its sister company American Workboats had expanded their operations across the Pacific Basin, with offices established in Honolulu and Los Angeles.
In 1985 the need for spill response and environmental services compelled the formation of a third company, Penco, within the American Marine Services Group.
Local office opens in 1994 The companies first appeared in Alaska in support of the response to the Exxon Valdez disaster. A new market opportunity in 1994 convinced the company management to set up a regional office in Anchorage.
With the consequent growth in business, in 1998 the management decided to realign the companies, by amalgamating American Divers and American Workboats into the American Marine Corp. American Marine Corp. and Penco would operate as two distinct companies within American Marine Services Group in Alaska.
American Marine has unique capabilities in Alaska Following its establishment in Alaska in 1994, American Marine Corp.’s main business was diving support for the oil platforms and pipelines in the Cook Inlet.
Tom Ulrich, the Alaska area manager for American Marine Corp., explained the company’s unique services. "American Marine provides a specialty marine offshore capability. Our divers dive anywhere, from Southeastern [Alaska], to Cook Inlet, all the way to and including the North Slope."
Ulrich also said that American Marine Corp. divers carry out underwater inspections, repairs or equipment installations, anything that needs to be done in order to seek out and prevent problems.
Cook Inlet remains one of the more challenging environments for divers to work. The wear and tear of ice and seawater result in a continuous need for inspection and repair of the underwater structures. The turbidity of the water and five-to six-knot currents make the it one of the world’s most dangerous places to dive.
Safety is of paramount importance. American Divers and American Marine Corp. Area Manager Steve Stuart said that the work requires a great deal of training and experience. "Experience and training is how we deal with the risk."
Stuart is particularly proud that, in 1998, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers awarded American Marine Corp. an Outstanding Performance Award for the underwater repair of the Ship Creek Reservoir Dam in Fort Richardson. The Corps of Engineers determined that the American Marine Corp. had met or exceeded requirements for safety and compliance, Shedlock said.
Penco services oil and fuel tanks Oil and fuel tank inspection, cleaning and repair form the core business of American Marine Services Group subsidiary Penco. Tanks must be inspected regularly to ensure that they are in good working order and to comply with state regulations. As with the American Marine Corp. diving operations, the objective is to assist customers in avoiding environmental problems.
Shedlock explained how Penco tank inspections work to help the industry. "We provide a service package to the oil industry from the production fields on the North Slope all the way through the distribution in the local and rural communities We provide the manpower and equipment [for] everything from start to finish — clean the tank, inspect the tank, fix the tank and give the client back a totally compliant vessel."
Spill-response services Although Penco’s major objective is oil spill prevention, the company is also a government recognized oil spill response organization, or OSRO. In this capacity it supplies people and equipment to oil spill responders such as Cook Inlet Spill Response Inc., Alaska Clean Seas, the USCG and the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation. Penco is able to assist these organizations by maintaining a pool of specialized spill response personnel, on call in Alaska, California and Hawaii.
Shedlock said, "[We have] 25 years worth of experience as a company, and probably over 100 years worth of individual collective experience in a core group of employees."
As part of its spill-prevention services, Penco also performs dock watches, when bulk fuel is being transferred to and from tankers at the Port of Anchorage. A Penco crew operates the controls for the fuel transfer pumps. The crew monitors the operation to ensure that there is no fuel leakage.
American Marine Services Group employees The main strength of American Marine Services Group is its experienced and knowledgeable staff.
"Here in Alaska the American Marine Services Group has some of the most experienced and unique individuals performing very unique work," Shedlock said. "We can address the really unusual circumstances of [the marine and petroleum industries’] operations in a very professional, safe manner."
Nowhere is this more so than in American Marine Corp.’s diving division. Divers such as Steve Stuart and Owen Boyle are known names in the diving industry. With each having logged 20 or more years of experience, they know how to find their way around complex subsea structures in strong currents and poor visibility, without snagging or tangling their gear.
"Our divers have been out there since the installation of the platforms and working on pipelines since they started laying them out there," diver Steve Stuart said.
The company also encourages its new divers. The senior divers mentor the less experienced ones, so that decades worth of diving knowledge is passed to the next generation.
Penco’s work assignments also demand staff with extensive knowledge and experience. Todd Fisher heads the company’s Alaska operations.
"Todd Fisher’s been involved in tank inspections, construction, maintenance and operation for about 20 years now," Shedlock said. Bob Fitzpatrick, Fisher’s operations manager, has been a spill response specialist for more than 12 years.
Through its team of skilled and knowledgeable staff, the American Marine Services Group helps the oil industry avoid environmental problems. As long as the industry produces and moves oil, the group will continue to provide its unique but necessary services.
Editor’s Note: This article is a reprinted from PNA’s special publication, Partners in Development. The only changes that have been made to the article are in style.
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