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Waters calm for Alyeska, response fleet Some issues remain between the Alaska pipeline operator and commercial fishermen trained to help on Prince William Sound oil spills Wesley Loy For Petroleum News
Relations have stabilized between Alyeska Pipeline Service Co. and its oil spill response fleet, more than a year after commercial fishing vessel owners nearly staged a mutiny over contract demands. But certain issues continue to strain the partnership.
That’s the upshot of a new report from the Prince William Sound Regional Citizens’ Advisory Council. The council is a congressionally sanctioned nonprofit organization that watches over the tanker port in Valdez.
The report recaps a March 18 meeting in Anchorage with a group of fishing vessel owners. Joining the meeting were officials with the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation and the U.S. Coast Guard.
The citizens’ council convened the meeting to sound out the fishermen, a year after the response fleet locked horns with Alyeska, operator of the 800-mile trans-Alaska oil pipeline and the Valdez tanker terminal.
Trouble breaks out State and federal authorities require Alyeska to maintain a fleet of a few hundred fishing vessels to help clean up oil spills. Fishermen are trained on such tasks as deploying boom and skimming oil off the surface of the water, and they’re supposed to be ready to respond to spills within certain timeframes.
The fishermen aren’t unionized; rather, they hold individual contracts with Alyeska.
Early in 2010, long-simmering tensions reached a critical point when Alyeska was unable to show it could rally the required number of boats. Some fishermen had dropped out of the spill response program, and many others appeared ready to boycott a spring training exercise without a pay increase.
Ultimately, Alyeska did increase compensation, in some cases doubling the pay, after weighing factors such as inflation, fuel costs, mooring fees and the compensation fishermen receive in spill response programs in other states.
Mixed sentiments on pay At the March meeting, the fishing vessel owners indicated most of their ranks were satisfied with Alyeska’s new compensation schedule.
“The pay increase that occurred in the spring of 2010 has been well received,” the report says. “The number of signed contracts also increased. Interest in the program is high, and FVOs report they have witnessed boats that left the program join again, and new boats come in on contract.”
But the fishermen also said that “despite increased compensation, the overall goals of last year’s threatened stand-down were not met,” the report says.
The fishermen are concerned that no mechanism is in place to keep compensation at acceptable levels, says the report.
They stressed they “would like to see a process through which they could negotiate their contractual terms and address issues,” perhaps through a proposed steering committee. And the fishermen would like a standard contract period of three years.
Alyeska, in an April 19, 2010, press release, said it had “committed to reviewing compensation on a three-year cycle.”
Insurance, other issues The fishermen raised other issues at the March meeting. They said improved communication is needed with Alyeska’s anti-spill unit, SERVS (Ship Escort/Response Vessel System).
A major unresolved issue is Alyeska insurance for the fishing vessels and their crews.
“Fleet representatives voiced confusion on what is covered, and when the coverage starts and stops,” the report says. Vessel owners also are unclear about how insurance is applied to their crews.
Speaking of crewmen, the boat owners said they’re now having trouble finding and keeping good crew throughout the year as more vessels have contracted with Alyeska, the report says.
The report makes a number of recommendations, such as creating a steering committee and a newsletter to improve the contracting process and communication between the fleet and Alyeska.
It also recommends the insurance issue be clarified.
In past meetings with vessel owners, Alyeska insurance experts have attended and answered questions, “but there appears to remain some disconnect between the parties and the understanding of insurance,” the report says. “Insurance parameters need to be defined in simple language and in writing.”
Overall with the response fleet program, “things are better than they were approximately one year ago,” the report concludes.
The citizens’ council is scheduled to review the report at its Sept. 15-16 board meeting in Kenai.
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