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Phillips begins construction on third millennium class tanker Polar Discovery will be delivered in 2002; first of tankers, Polar Endeavour, will enter Alaska trade early next year Petroleum News Alaska
Polar Tankers Inc. said Sept. 5 that Litton/Avondale Industries Inc. of New Orleans, La., has laid the keel of the M/V Polar Discovery, the third “millennium class” tanker being built to carry crude oil from Alaska to the West Coast.
Polar Tankers, based in Long Beach, Calif., is the shipping unit of Phillips Alaska Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Phillips Petroleum Co.
The company said the “millennium class” tankers are the first new crude oil carriers being built specifically for the Alaska trade in compliance with the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 and will meet and/or exceed existing and proposed environmental regulations.
“We’re building these tankers because Phillips has a strong commitment to the state of Alaska and to our valued customers and stakeholders in our U.S. West Coast/Hawaii ports of call,” said John Hennon, president of Polar Tankers. Tankers double-hulled Polar said that the tankers are built with double hulls which exceed regulatory minimums, double independent engine rooms, twin propellers and twin rudders.
The millennium class vessels will have cargo, fuel and lubricating oils isolated from the ship’s side by ballast tanks or void spaces. The vessels also will meet pending regulations for air emissions from engines.
The ships are painted with tin-free anti-fouling paint in deference to proposed regulations.
The three vessels, the Polar Discovery, the Polar Endeavour and the Polar Resolution, are each approximately 895 feet long by 151.6 feet wide by 86.29 feet deep.
The vessels are powered by twin 11,060 kilowatt slow-speed diesel engines. The ships also have 2,206 kilowatt bow thrusters. The design speed is 16.5 knots loaded and 17.5 knots in ballast.
The Polar Discovery’s tanks will hold slightly more than 1 million barrels of cargo at full capacity and 125,000 deadweight tons of cargo for Puget Sound, Wash.
Polar Tanker said that the vessel will be equipped with the latest electronics to ensure safe and efficient operation.
The Polar Discovery will be delivered in late 2002. The first of the millennium class tankers, the Polar Endeavour, was christened in October 1999 and will enter the Alaska trade in early 2001.
Phillips Alaska spokeswoman Dawn Patience told PNA Sept. 11 that the Endeavour is scheduled for first lifting in March 2001.
Polar Tankers’ fleet consists of five vessels ranging in size from 50,000 to 265,000 deadweight tons.
All of the ships are employed in the Alaska crude trade.
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