Obama signs CG bill with Alaska provisions

President Barack Obama on Oct. 15 signed into law the Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2010, which has several important provisions for the Alaska oil and gas industry.

The $10.2 billion Coast Guard Act (H.R. 3619) cleared the Congress at the end of September.

The new law mandates that two tugboats must continue escorting oil-laden tankers through Prince William Sound, even if the ships have double hulls. Dual escorts previously were required only for single-hull tankers, hardly any of which remain in service today.

The law also contains a section that could help Shell, which hopes to drill in the Beaufort and Chukchi seas off Alaska. The provision allows oil companies to charter foreign-flag vessels known as anchor handlers to work in Alaska’s arctic waters.

These vessels handle the heavy anchors and mooring lines associated with offshore drilling rigs. Normally, foreign anchor handlers would be prohibited under the Jones Act, but the Coast Guard Act makes an exception through 2017 if U.S. vessels are unavailable and the oil company contracts to build an American boat.

When Shell first prepared to drill in the Beaufort Sea in 2007, it used a temporary exemption in place at that time to bring in foreign-flag anchor handlers to tend its two planned drilling platforms. Louisiana-based Edison Chouest Offshore is now building a new anchor handler for Shell.

The Coast Guard Act also calls for an independent, nongovernmental party to conduct a cost-benefit analysis on improving the nation’s fleet of polar icebreakers. And the law gives the Coast Guard a year to prepare a vessel traffic risk assessment for Cook Inlet.

—Wesley Loy