Wanted: ideas to cut inlet shipping risk

A panel examining risks associated with shipping in Alaska’s Cook Inlet is inviting ideas from the public on measures to reduce the chances of accidents.

The call comes from the Cook Inlet Risk Assessment project, an ongoing initiative to examine the risk of oil spills posed by vessels transiting through the region. Three agencies are behind the project: the Cook Inlet Regional Citizens Advisory Council, the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation and the U.S. Coast Guard.

A project advisory panel will consider all suggestions from the public on risk reduction measures, a Jan. 16 press release said. The advisory panel is made up of 14 stakeholders including mariners, marine pilots, port directors, fishermen, subsistence users and other experts.

“A risk reduction measure can be any policy, procedure, rule, equipment, system, or service that would lower the chance of a marine incident or reduce the impact of an incident if it should occur,” the press release said. “It can be something fairly obvious or traditional such as a Vessel Traffic System that monitors and controls the movement of vessels transiting Cook Inlet. Or, it may be something less obvious, such as a sub-sea pipeline that would take the place of tankers moving oil across Cook Inlet.”

A list of some risk reduction measures already slated for consideration is posted on the project website at www.cookinletriskassessment.com.

Ideas can be submitted by email to [email protected], by regular mail to CIRA Comments, Nuka Research, PO Box 175, Seldovia, AK 99663, or by fax to 240-394-4855.

The deadline for comments is Feb. 4. The advisory panel will meet in late February to consider all suggestions.

—Wesley Loy