Emergency Shutdown of Loading Operations at Berth 4 at Valdez Marine Terminal

At 2:43 a.m. on November 18, 2005, loading operations for the Alaska Frontier at Berth 4 at the Valdez Marine Terminal (VMT) ceased due to an emergency shutdown having an unknown cause. The tanker Kenai was loading at Berth 5 at the time.

The Alaska Frontier had taken about 300,000 barrels on board when the shutdown occurred. The crude oil inventory at that time was 82 percent of the 14 tanks in service. PWSRCAC views this incident very seriously. Fortunately, the unplanned shutdown only lasted eight hours, but if operations were to be suspended for 12 to 14 hours as might have been the situation if loading operations could not have been resumed on Berth 4, inventory would have approached and perhaps exceeded 90 percent, the threshold at which the Joint Pipeline Office (JPO) is notified of the problem and efforts to start production proration begin.

Staff followed up with Alyeska between 10 a.m. and noon to ascertain the cause of the emergency shutdown. Alyeska staff responded quickly to the council's inquiry by explaining the emergency shutdown logic and troubleshooting efforts then underway; however, Alyeska had not identified the specific cause of the shutdown. It was known that eight physically protected push buttons (some outside), the fire detection system, and perhaps other signals in their control system could have been the source of the shutdown signal. Troubleshooting efforts included examining the interior of the junction boxes in which the shutdown push buttons were located. Some of the interiors of the junction boxes were found to have corrosion and moisture. Alyeska cleaned and dried the boxes at fault but could not identify the specific cause of the shutdown.

The Kenai finished loading at mid-morning and then departed Berth 5 for Knowles Head to await the opening of the Hinchinbrook Entrance. Alyeska was about ready to move the Alaska Frontier to Berth 5 for continuation of loading when the cleaning and drying of the emergency shutdown push buttons was completed. Rather than move the Alaska Frontier to Berth 5, Alyeska resumed loading operations on Berth 4 at 11:30 a.m. to see if the cleaning and drying of the push buttons had remedied the problem. As of 2:30 p.m. that day, Alyeska reported that no additional emergency shutdowns had occurred.

As of November 21, staff learned that loading operations continued on schedule, and that inventory levels were at approximately 56 percent.

For more information, please contact Tom Kuckertz at 907.834.5050.