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Alyeska presses for tug change
by The Associated Press
The Alyeska Pipeline Service Co. wants to speed up the review of the tanker-escort system and replace a tug at the entrance to Prince William Sound.
The 222-foot Gulf Service is stationed at Hinchinbrook Island. The brawny tug escorts loaded oil tankers into the Gulf of Alaska and is on call for emergencies in the Sound and at sea.
Contract ends in March But the contract for the tug ends in March. In part to avoid paying the six-month contract price of $2.94 million and as part of a broader goal to rethink tug use in Prince William Sound, Alyeska wants to replace the Gulf Service with a new, smaller tug with a more advanced propulsion system.
The new vessel and tug plan may mean safer shipping, state officials say. But they want tests and analysis of how well the new vessel and system would perform before Alyeska lets the Gulf Service go. The state is requiring Alyeska to keep the existing tug at Hinchinbrook on contract through the tests, which may last until September.
“Being cost-efficient is fine, but they have to do the tests,” said Susan Harvey, head of oil spill planning with the state Department of Environmental Conservation.
Testing requirements flawed The oil companies that own Alyeska — BP Amoco, ExxonMobil and Atlantic Richfield Co. — filed a legal brief with the DEC last week asking that the agency delete the testing requirements for the new tugs from a new oil spill plan. BP’s Alaska spokesman, Ronnie Chappell, said the company believes the testing requirements are flawed.
The Exxon Valdez oil spill in 1989 triggered a wave of reform of how oil is moved by tanker, from the kinds of ships that will be allowed to carry the oil to how the ships move in coastal waters to what equipment must be standing by just in case. Alaska law also requires shippers to use the “best available technology” to move oil.
The oil companies last month updated their plans for oil spill prevention and response. A provision dealing specifically with the Hinchinbrook tug requires testing and trials before replacing the vessel.
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