Update: New Anchors Outfitted on Two ATC Crude Tankers

The U.S. Coast Guard has announced that two crude tankers operated by the Alaska Tanker Company (ATC), the ALASKAN NAVIGATOR and the ALASKAN FRONTIER have been fitted with new anchors and are now back in service. Two other sister vessels have each had a new temporary anchor installed and are operating under restrictions outlined by the Coast Guard.



On Wednesday, USCG LCDR Rick Rodriguez outlined the restrictions which were imposed on the vessels with only temporary repairs. Rodriguez told MarEx that the restrictions were laid out on 13 January and the vessels would have 90 days to complete their repairs, during which time, the following requirements ??" as agreed upon by USCG Los Angeles, Valdez and Washington would have to be met by the vessels and their operator:



•Tug escorts to be required while vessels underway in all areas requiring marine pilotage;

•When in loaded condition, vessels will require standby tugs when at anchor;

•When at anchor and in ballast, with winds exceeding 34 KT, a standby tug will be required;

•When the advance 96 hour notice to arrival is made, the vessels must verify and report on the status and condition of their anchors.



In late December, the anchors on the Alaskan Frontier and the Alaskan Navigator were discovered missing when the crude tankers were being discharged at Long Beach, CA. Preliminary investigations have revealed material defects in the remaining, 16-ton, and 4 meter long anchors. As yet, no one knows exactly where the anchors were lost in transit. In heavy weather, ATC prudently keeps their seafarers off the deck for safety reasons. ATF made the decision to replace all of the anchors on this class of vessel because the original anchors were showing signs of metal failure. In the meantime, the Coast Guard is continuing its joint investigation between the Washington Department of Ecology and Alaska Tanker Company to determine why anchors on the two different vessels engaged in the Alaskan crude trades had failed, and were lost at sea.



A January 11th press release advised “In late December, the Alaskan Frontier and Alaskan Navigator lost anchors in heavy weather while transiting from Valdez, Alaska, to Long Beach, California. There were no injuries to the crew or harm to the environment in either incident. A subsequent inspection of the remaining anchor on each vessel revealed a material defect in each anchor. ATC is working with the ship's manufacturer, NASSCO, to understand the anchor failure.”



Both the Alaskan Frontier and the Alaskan Navigator are Alaska class vessels, delivered between 2004 and 2005, and employ environmentally-friendly design, incorporating double-hulls, dual rudders and dual engineering suites. The redundancies are intended to prevent one single system failure from incapacitating the vessel. The $250 million vessels have a nominal capacity of about 1.3 million barrels and were delivered to ATC by shipbuilder National Steel and Shipbuilding Co. of San Diego.



According to ATC’s WEB site, the Alaska Tanker Company (ATC) was created in 1999 by Keystone Shipping Company, (37.5%), OSG Ship Management (37.5%) and BP Oil Shipping Company, USA (25%) to consolidate all of BP’s Alaskan crude oil shipping requirements into one operating company.