Drills and Exercises

Responders perform well overall in drills in 2024

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Two fishing vessels pull boom behind them. Each boat is attached to one end of the boom so that when they move forward, the boom forms a curve. In this first image, the boats are parallel with each other so that the boom is in the shape of the letter U.

Many of the drills and exercises conducted by the industry last year went well, according to the latest drill summary released by the Council. During the 14 drills and exercises observed in 2024, responders were generally well-practiced and activities went smoothly. The summary report also contains suggestions for future exercises.

Tanker spill exercise

In October, Marathon Petroleum conducted a large exercise, simulating a spill of almost 3 million gallons of crude oil from a tanker into central Prince William Sound.

One goal of the exercise was to test how well responders transitioned command of the response from Alyeska’s Ship Escort Response Vessel System, or SERVS, to Marathon. Part of SERVS’ role in an oil spill is to initiate and manage the response activities until the company that owns the tanker arrives on the scene.

“The transition from Alyeska to Marathon was very well done,” says Roy Robertson, drill monitor for the Council. “The Marathon team members took the time to shadow SERVS’ team before the transition to learn the system and processes that are unique to our region.”

“Marathon also kept most of SERVS’ team around to provide support which has not always been done in the past,” Robertson added.

Three people surround a metal table in a shiny new facility with modern equipment. One of the three is directing the other two on otter cleaning techniques. The "otter" on the table is a stuffed toy.
A wildlife expert teaches Council staff members Donna Schantz and Joe Lally how to clean crude oil from an otter. A stuffed toy otter is used in these training sessions.

Terminal spill exercises

In 2024, Alyeska conducted several exercises that simulated a spill from the terminal. During one of these, Alyeska set up its new units for treating oiled wildlife such as otters and birds. These units contain state of the art equipment and can be set up quickly in the event of a spill.

Polar Tankers conducted emergency towing exercises

Polar Tankers led the pack in tanker towing exercises. The industry is required to perform one each quarter, although a total of five were conducted in 2024. The Council observed two of the five. Polar Tankers volunteered to conduct three.

“These exercises do add time to the tanker’s trip,” says Robertson. “But they provide valuable training for the crews.”

The report recommends rotating the exercises between the various shipping companies.

Protecting sensitive areas

Several exercises focused on tactics to keep oil away from shorelines or other areas that are particularly susceptible to damage from oil contamination.

This type of exercise is often held during the annual spill response training for fishing vessel crews. The small vessels that participate in these trainings would mostly be used in this capacity in a real incident.

Some areas to improve

The report included suggestions for improving future exercises, including:

  • More deployments of the new oil spill response barge, the Allison Creek, which replaced an older barge of the same name last year. The new barge is an improvement, but does have more equipment on its deck.
  • Practice response operations during reduced visibility. More than 5 years have elapsed since the last exercise was conducted in low visibility. The escort tugs have special equipment on board that improves responders’ ability to spot oil in these conditions.

2024 Annual Drill Report

More details and additional recommendations are available in the full report: 2024 Annual Drill Monitoring Report 

Modern technologies changing oil spill response

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Lessons learned during the pandemic here to stay

This image shows how closely oil spill responders must work during some drills and exercises. The responders in the photos are 2-3 feet apart, which was restricted during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Responders often work in close proximity during oil spill response drills. Pandemic precautions restricted many of these activities. In this photo, responders guide oil spill boom off of the response vessel Valdez Star as a distant fishing vessel tows the boom into position.

The Council’s newest annual report on drills and exercises highlights lessons learned during the pandemic and recent changes due to new technologies.

Large drills continue to take advantage of video-conferencing platforms. Meetings are held online. Documents and other data are shared through online collaboration tools.

“While the Council supports responders having as much local knowledge as possible, modern communication technologies mean some positions in the response can fully function from a remote location such as Anchorage,” says Roy Robertson, drill monitor for the Council, and author of the report.

Online learning during fishing vessel training

Alyeska’s Ship Escort Response Vessel System, or SERVS, conducts annual training for crews of local fishing vessels, who are contracted to respond in case of a spill. Before the pandemic, part of the training was held in a classroom, part was hands-on experience with equipment on dry land, and finally, crews would practice deploying equipment on the water.

Since the pandemic, the classroom sessions have been held online.

Hands-on equipment training increased in 2023

Technology can’t take care of everything. Responders still need to know how to set up and use oil spill boom, run skimmers, and communicate effectively during an emergency.

Unfortunately, crew members were not able to safely work with equipment over the last few years due to pandemic precautions. Restrictions hit two specific tactics particularly hard: nearshore response and sensitive area protection.

“Nearshore response” is a set of maneuvers used by fishing vessels to intercept the leading edge of an oil spill as it approaches a shoreline. These tactics are designed to redirect oil and collect it.

“Sensitive area protection” also happens near a shoreline. The difference is that these tactics are designed for a specific location such as a fish hatchery, cultural site, or wildlife congregation area. These tactics are planned out in advance and are designed to keep oil from contaminating the location.

Both of these tactics involve crew members being close together, so they were not regularly practiced from 2020-2022. In 2023, however, these exercises were held regularly.

Other oil spill response highlights from the report

New oil spill response barges: Over the past few years, Alyeska and the Prince William Sound shippers have been replacing oil spill response barges. These barges are stocked with response equipment and have large cargo tanks for storing collected oil. Some of the barges were up to 40 years old. The latest new barge is a replacement for the Allison Creek, which arrived in Prince William Sound in April. Read more about the Allison Creek from Alyeska. The new barges are almost identical, so training on one vessel is applicable to all.

Most likely scenario for spill from terminal: Three of five exercises at the Valdez Marine Terminal involved an area called “Drainage 58.” This is considered the most likely route that a large oil spill from the East Tank Farm would flow downhill toward Port Valdez.

Recommendations for improvement

While many of the drills and exercises went smoothly, observers did find room for improvement. Find more details in the full report: 2023 Annual Drill Monitoring Report

Report archive

Previous annual drill reports (2002-present) are available on the Preparedness Monitoring page.

Drills and exercises getting back to normal

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Photo shows responders practicing an oil spill response during low-light conditions. The area is lit using multiple bright lights to be able to see the equipment.
The Council would like to see more exercises performed during low-visibility conditions. If a spill were to occur during winter or a foggy summer day, crews don’t have as much practice in how to adjust tactics for these conditions. Photo by Jeremy Robida.

For the past few years, the COVID-19 pandemic affected many aspects of daily life. Oil spill drills and exercises were not exempt. Restrictions to protect the health and safety of responders limited these activities.

Not only were there fewer drills and exercises, they were harder to observe. Social distancing meant that Council staff could not board tugs and barges to see response operations up close. Council staff members Roy Robertson and Jeremy Robida, who have monitored drills and exercises in Prince William Sound for the past 18 and 13 years respectively, conducted some observations from a separate chartered vessel.

Fortunately, this year many of the restrictions were lifted.

New report summarizes 2022 drills

The Council’s annual report on drills and exercises conducted in Prince William Sound in 2022 has been released. The report highlights some of the continuing effects from the pandemic, along with a few changes that are here to stay.

Conducting business online

Virtual conferencing has changed many workplaces, including oil spill response. These technologies have shown up in several ways.

Coordinating online: Many drills are now hybrid (in person with online participants). Meetings are broadcast on videoconferencing platforms. Documents and other data are shared through online collaboration tools. Robertson says there are still some glitches, but these are improving.

Live video streaming: During a drill in May, the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation deployed a drone over some activities out on the water. They were able to stream live video to the Valdez command center and participants in Jacksonville, Florida. The video was also recorded and available for later review.

Online training options: Alyeska’s Ship Escort Response Vessel System conducts annual trainings for crews of local fishing vessels, who are contracted to respond in case of a spill. Before the pandemic, part of the training sessions were held in a classroom, part were hands-on experience with equipment on dry land, and finally, crews would practice deploying equipment on the water.

Since the pandemic, the classroom sessions have been held online. The dry-land portion that required closer physical interaction between participants had not been held since 2020, but returned in 2023. The on-water portion remains the same.

Improvements at Valdez Duck Flats

Pandemic restrictions particularly affected exercises to practice either diverting oil from shorelines or protecting locations that are particularly sensitive to oil contamination, such as hatcheries. These tactics are performed by fishing vessels which have little room for social distancing. The return to in-person exercises is important for these activities.
Robertson noted in the report that responders spent more time this year practicing tactics to protect the Valdez Duck Flats, a highly productive biological area that provides critical habitat for a variety of waterfowl, small mammals, and marine mammals. This area is particularly sensitive to oil contamination. This was time well spent, he says. Robertson said that the responders have become more proficient at these tactics.

More details in the report: Drill Monitoring Annual Report for 2022

 

Drills and exercises affected by pandemic again in 2021

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The Council has released its annual report on drills and exercises conducted in Prince William Sound in 2021. This report highlights the continuing effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and lessons learned.

Reduced on-water monitoring for second year

Graphic showing that 2 drills observed in 2020 and 6 in 2021, compared to a normal pre-pandemic year when usually 12-20 are monitored.For the second year in a row, the Council has been unable to monitor the on-water drills and exercises in Prince William Sound as closely as pre-pandemic years.

The Council has not been allowed on tugs or barges since early 2020, given COVID safety precautions. To be able to monitor some drills, the Council has chartered boats to observe from afar, but evaluation has proved difficult from such a distance.

“We can’t see the full evolution of the exercise or hear communications,” says Council drill monitor Roy Robertson. “We can’t tell if the crews are having problems deploying boom and we can’t time the activities like we usually do.”

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