Second of four BP double-hulled tankers goes into service

Allen Baker

The second of four double-hulled tankers that are being built to carry Alaska crude to West Coast refineries was launched Dec. 4 with a naming ceremony at the San Diego shipyard where the new ships are being built. (See photo on page 1.)

The Alaskan Explorer got the traditional bottle of champagne smashed across its hull by Maureen Hayward. She’s the wife of Tony Hayward, group chief executive of exploration and production for BP. Sharon Marshall, spouse of BP Exploration (Alaska) President Steve Marshall, was her matron of honor in the ceremony.

The ship is virtually identical to the Alaskan Frontier, which went into service in August and has carried five cargos south so far. The 941-foot-long ships can hold 1.3 million barrels of crude, a little more than four days’ worth of BP’s North Slope production.

The Alaskan Explorer is expected to finish sea tests and start carrying oil south in January or February, according to Daren Beaudo of BP in Alaska.

The ships, built to last 50 years, are powered by twin diesel-electric systems in separate engine rooms, with two propellers and two rudders. They have a multitude of design features to improve reliability and reduce potential for spills.

The keel for the third ship was laid in July, and construction on the fourth ship started in October. They are being built by National Steel and Shipbuilding Co., a subsidiary of General Dynamics Corp. About a thousand workers are employed for the ships’ construction.

Once the four tankers are in service, expected to happen around the second quarter of 2006, they will carry all of BP’s Alaska oil production, Beaudo said.

BP owns the ships, but they are operated by Alaska Tanker Co. of Portland. BP has a 25 percent stake in that company.