The Wayback Machine - https://web.archive.org/all/20070701051219/http://www.inletkeeper.org/watershedWatch/seabulk.htm

                                                  

 

     

 

 

 HOME l SIGN UP l CONTACT US l SITE MAP               Protecting Alaska's Cook Inlet watershed and the life it sustains

 

 Report  pollution & habitat destruction:  Call Inletkeeper's Hotline 1-888-MY-INLET (694-6538) or click here

 

 

Pollution Response

 

Beluga Whale

 

Pebble Mine

 

Mixing Zones

 

Port of Anchorage

 

Knik Arm Bridge

 

Clean Boating & Recreation

 
 
       
 
 
         
 
 
             

 

Cook Inletkeeper

Watershed Watch Program

UPDATE!!!

January 31, 2007

ANCHORAGE, AK:  After over a decade advocating for enhanced navigational safeguards in Cook Inlet, Inletkeeper is pleased to announce Tesoro has contracted with a 5,500 horsepower tractor tug - the T/V Protector - to assist tankers and other vessels at the Nikiski and Drift River Docks.  Inletkeeper commends Tesoro for recognizing the increased safeguard provided by a dedicated tug vessel, and looks forward to working with Tesoro, the Cook Inlet Regional Citizens Advisory Council and other agencies to ensure an assist tug remains in Cook Inlet year round.

January 11, 2007

 Repeat Tanker Incident Prompts Call for Congressional Oversight
Ice, Tides Again Pull  “Seabulk Pride”  from Cook Inlet Dock


ANCHORAGE, AK:   Heavy ice and tides again ripped an oil tanker from its berth at the Nikiski docks in Cook Inlet, prompting calls for a congressional investigation into the repeat incident.  Less than a year ago, on February 2, 2006, the same tanker – the Seabulk Pride – at the same  dock, broke free from its mooring in heavy ice conditions, and ran aground in the heart of Cook  Inlet ‘s salmon fisheries carrying 5 million gallons of oil product.
       “With the recent spate of near-disasters in shipping off Alaska, it seems prudent for the  U.S. Congress to convene oversight hearings to assist the Coast Guard and State in better  managing these risks” said Rick Steiner, professor with the University of Alaska and co-facilitator
of the Shipping Safety Partnership. In addition to the Seabulk Pride incident, several  TAPS tankers suffered significant structural problems in heavy seas recently, the freighter “Sea Honesty” diverted to Dutch Harbor with engine trouble last month, and the car-carrier “Cougar Ace” rolled on its side last summer off the Aleutians.
          Details of this week’s incident remain sketchy, though reports from the Cook Inlet Regional Citizens Advisory Council said the vessel slipped four winches and parted at least one line at approximately 8:00 AM on January 9. A prolonged cold spell has created heavy ice conditions in Cook Inlet, and ice presumably played a role in the incident. The incident forced the vessel to depart the dock, and proceed to ice- free waters to the south in Kachemak Bay. The U.S. Coast Guard previously had invoked its “winter ice rules” for Cook Inlet, and early reports suggest the vessel and crew complied with those guidelines.The events of this week were similar to those that caused the same tanker to ground last winter.     

       “Some apologists might argue the system worked because the tanker didn’t end up on the beach again,” said Bob Shavelson of Cook Inletkeeper. “But anytime you have an oil tanker forcibly removed from its berth, it’s clear to most reasonable people there’s a serious problem.”
       The incident also raised concerns about the designation of Kachemak Bay as a Port of
Refuge for stricken vessels in Cook Inlet. Kachemak Bay is a state critical habitat area and a
National Estuarine Research Reserve; it’s also the safest place in Cook Inlet to bring a leaking or
disabled vessel, especially during the harsh winter months.
       “Kachemak Bay supports vibrant fishing, tourism and subsistence economies,” said
Shavelson, “and it’s unfair for the residents of Kachemak Bay to have to bear the burden of
unsafe shipping practices in the Upper Inlet.” The Shipping Safety Partnership, a coalition of Alaska Native, fishing, business, and conservation organizations, has been pushing for shipping safety improvements in the North Pacific since the Selendang Ayu disaster in the Aleutians in 2004.
       “We should heed the warning signs of a system on the verge of catastrophic failure,” said
Steiner. “It is time for the Congress to intervene and jump-start this sluggish process of fixing
our ship safety system.”

 

FOR MORE INFORMATION:
RICK STEINER 907-786-4156
BOB SHAVELSON 907-299-3277

 

February 2006

Seabulk Pride Runs Hard Aground in Cook Inlet, Alaska

Oil Tanker Carrying Over 4.8 Million Gallons of Product

 

 

UPDATE!  Tanker pulled from beach shortly after 8:30 AM, Friday, Feb. 3! No spill evident; crews checking vessel integrity. Cook Inlet Keeper commends the Unified Command and the responders on-the-ground and water for a job well done, calls for better navigational safety...

 

See Press Release

See Latest Situation Report & More

 

Photos taken Feb 2, 2006 at 3:00 PM. © Cook Inlet Keeper                                                                                                                More pictures click here

                                                                                                                                         

COOK INLET, AK:  Heavy ice and tides ripped the oil tanker Seabulk Pride from its mooring at the Tesoro Refinery in Cook Inlet, Alaska, on the morning of February 2, 2006.  The vessel went aground during a high tide cycle in extreme winter ice conditions, despite the U.S. Coast Guard’s issuance January 30 of “extreme ice rules” designed to prevent such incidents.

 

Cook Inlet boasts the highest tidal range in the United States, and currents can run up to 10 miles per hour.  The region is also notorious for its heavy and unpredictable icing conditions.  As a result, Cook Inlet poses extreme navigational hazards to ships and tankers during heavy ice and tide conditions.

 

Cook Inlet also stands out for its lack of navigational safeguards. Unlike Prince William Sound and Puget Sound, where laden tankers receive tug escorts during transit, loaded vessels ply the rough and icy waters of Cook Inlet without tug escorts or legitimate emergency/docking assistance.

 

A 1992 report commissioned by the Cook Inlet Regional Citizens Advisory Council (“Dickson Report”) found Cook Inlet to have the most dangerous navigational conditions of any major port in the Western Hemisphere, and recommended, among other things, tug boat assists during vessel loading and unloading during heavy ice conditions.  Significantly, the navigational hazards in Cook Inlet have not lessened since the Dickson Report 16 years ago.

 

Cook Inlet is an amazingly rich and productive estuary, and the risks posed by oil spills are considerable.  The region supports all 5 species of wild Pacific salmon.  Commercial salmon fisheries alone bring over $14 million a year to local fishing families, and sport and subsistence fisheries account for untold millions more.  Cook Inlet also supports an isolated stock of beluga whales, whose numbers have dropped over 50% recently, leading to a “depleted” listing under federal law.

 

Despite numerous spills, accidents and close-calls, the U.S. Coast Guard, shipping companies and oil and gas corporations have refused to adopt appropriate safeguards to protect Cook Inlet fisheries and the communities they support.  Importantly, technologies do not exist to adequately address oil spills in heavy ice and current conditions.  For the past decade, Cook Inlet Keeper and others have called for tug assist vessels and other navigational safety improvements.  While Keeper applauds Tesoro’s workers, agencies and the on-the-ground spill responders for a job well done, the Seabulk Pride grounding must prompt the Tesoro Corporation, other Cook Inlet corporations and the U.S. Coast Guard to invest the necessary resources in an area that has produced billions in dollars in oil and gas industry profits.

 

An Abbreviated History of Vessel and Structure Damage in Cook Inlet Caused by Extreme Ice & Tides.

 

1964:    Winter ice and tides causes tear pilings from petroleum dock at Port of Anchorage, approx. $33,000 damage.

 

1964:    Icebreaker Milton II caught in heavy ice.

 

1967:    Winter ice and tides demolish dock extension away from Port of Anchorage, $1.9 million damage.

 

1967:    Tanker Evje IV strikes shoal, ruptures cargo oil tanks after winter ice ripped out shoal marker buoy.

 

1980:    Ice pan pushes 540-ft SS Philadelphia into underwater object, $300,000 damage.

 

1982:    497-ft SS Newark grounded after encountering heavy ice and tides.

 

1983:    523-ft SS Galveston ripped loose from mooring at Port of Anchorage by ice floe and tides, slight damage.

 

1986:    540-ft SS Philadelphia forced into dock after colliding with large ice pan, $14,000 damage to 7 ships.

 

1990:    Heavy ice and currents ripped the MV Coast Range from the Drift River pier during loading operations, resulting in spill estimated at 200–600 gallons.

 

1999:    Heavy ice pushed the MV Ocean Laurel into Unocal’s dock at Nikiski, causing $100,000 in damage to the dock and catwalk.

 

1999:    Heavy ice conditions cracked a oil storage tank aboard the MV Chesapeake Trader, spilling approx. 420 gallons.

 

1999:    The Angelo D'Amato is ripped from its mooring in Nikiski, causing a chemical spill and structural damage.

 

2000:    Ice clogged the cooling-water intake of the freighter MV Torm Pacific, causing loss of power.

 

2000:    U.S.C.G. barred oil tankers and freighters from mooring at Tesoro's and Unocal's docks due to extreme ice conditions.

 

Sources:  N.D. Mulherin, W.B. Tucker III, O.P. Smith & W.J. Lee, Marine Ice Atlas for Cook Inlet, Alaska (2001)

                Jon Little, Inlet Ice Shuts 2 Nikiski Docks, Anchorage Daily News (January 21, 2000) 

 

Additional Links to Latest Seabulk Pride Incident Information:

 

Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation

 

United States Coast Guard

 

Cook Inlet Regional Citizens Advisory Council

 

Alaska Oceans Program Shipping Safety Partnership

 

Seabulk Pride Vessel Information

 

Additional Materials:

 

U.S. Coast Guard Extreme Winter Ice Rules, Jan. 30, 2006

 

Marine Ice Atlas for Cook Inlet

 

Cook Inlet Navigational Safety Forum (1999)

 

 
   
 
   

 Report  pollution & habitat destruction:  Call Inletkeeper's Hotline 1-888-MY-INLET (694-6538) or click here

 

 

 

Lower Inlet Office (Headquarters)

PO Box 3269 / 3734 Ben Walters Lane

Homer, Alaska  99603

tel. 907.235.4068     fax 907.235.4069

keeper@inletkeeper.org

 

Upper Inlet Office

308 G St., Suite 219

    Anchorage, AK 99501

tel. 907.929.9371    fax 907.929.1562

keeper@inletkeeper.org

 

©2007  Cook Inletkeeper  Last Updated  03/09/2007  

 

About Us l Programs l Take Action l News & Events l Support l Resources

JavaScript Menu Courtesy of Milonic.com