The Observer, January 2007
Agency faults ship management in tanker grounding
When the tanker Seabulk Pride broke away from a loading dock at Nikiski early last year and went aground on a nearby beach, it was out of compliance with Coast Guard ice guidelines, according to the agency’s investigation of the incident.
The Coast Guard’s report on the investigation, released in early November, said the vessel was not properly tied to the dock, its engine was not ready for a quick start in case of emergency, and its bridge was not properly manned when fast-moving ice broke its mooring lines and pushed it away from the dock where it was taking on petroleum products from a Tesoro refinery. Before the crew could get the engine started or take other preventive action, the tanker grounded on a beach. The accident began at 5:23 a.m. on Feb. 2, and the ship was aground by 5:36 a.m.
The tanker Seabulk Pride broke its moorings and grounded on a Cook Inlet beach on the morning of Feb. 2 last year. Photo by Tim Robertson.
The Coast Guard also described on-scene risk assessment as inadequate. “The only sure course of action that would have prevented this casualty was to require the ship to depart the terminal during the icing conditions experienced,” the agency wrote.
The Coast Guard said it would seek a two-month license suspension for the ship’s master, Stewart Potter, for failure to make sure the vessel’s moorings were strong enough to hold in all expected conditions.
The agency also made several recommendations for avoiding similar incidents in the future. The suggestions included paying more attention to mooring needs and procedures; modifying the dock to fend off moving ice; clearer ice guidelines from the Coast Guard; and more spot checks by the agency to make sure the guidelines are being followed.
The 600-foot Seabulk Pride is a double-hull tanker capable of carrying 342,000 barrels of cargo. At the time of the incident, it was operating under contract to Tesoro and had about 116,000 barrels of refined products on board.
About five barrels spilled from the loading equipment when the ship was torn away from the dock.
However, no additional oil spilled as a result of the grounding a few minutes later, despite the fact that the vessel’s outer hull was cracked while it was on the beach. This was widely credited to the vessel’s double-hull design, mandated by the federal Oil Pollution Act of 1990 in response to the Exxon Valdez spill.
The Nikiski grounding prompted renewed calls for rescue tugs in Cook Inlet by the citizens’ councils for Cook Inlet and Prince William Sound, among others. Though a comprehensive escort system was established in Prince William Sound after the Exxon spill, Cook Inlet is still without tugs, despite repeated calls for them over the years.
The Coast Guard report itself is faulted by some critics. “The Seabulk Pride incident revealed a systemic breakdown in pollution prevention and navigational safeguards in Cook Inlet, and a truly objective third-party review must occur to understand what roles, if any, the Coast Guard, the pilots, and Tesoro played here,” said Bob Shavelson, head of the Homer-based group Cook Inlet Keeper. “Otherwise, we’re stuck with a superficial investigation that fails to answer even the most basic questions surrounding the incident.”
The tanker’s operator, Seabulk International, commissioned its own report on the incident by a London-based engineering firm. That report concluded that ships using the Nikiski dock have “an unacceptably high risk of breakaway” under existing Coast Guard guidelines, according to a statement from the Cook Inlet Regional Citizens’ Advisory Council. The report suggested increasing mooring lines, monitoring ice thickness, and using a standby tug as measures to diminish the risks at Nikiski.
Those risks were driven home again on Jan. 9, when the the Seabulk Pride was again hit by heavy ice at the dock.
A mooring cable snapped and four others were strained, causing winches to pay out line to relieve the tension, according to press accounts.
No oil was spilled, but the Seabulk Pride cast off and sailed to Kachemak Bay to be inspected for damage, then returned to Nikiski Jan. 11 to finish loading oil, with two tugs standing by.
A week after the January incident, Tesoro Alaska announced plans to bring in a 5,500-horsepower tug to assist oil tankers for the rest of the winter ice season.
Mike Munger, executive director of the Cook Inlet citizens’ council, said the results will be evaluated after the ice season ends, and he hopes the practice becomes permanent. He commended Tesoro for bringing in the tug, which is not required by any agency.
Munger’s group will sponsor an Anchorage forum Feb. 21-22 on navigational safety in Cook Inlet. Visit www.circac.org/conference.php for information.