Risk of Vessel Accidents and Spills in the Aleutian Islands Designing a Comprehensive Risk Assessment - Special Report 293 (2009) / Chapter Skim
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4 Vessel Traffi c, Accidents, and Spills in the Aleutians
4 Vessel Traffi c, Accidents, and Spills in the Aleutians
Pages 73-95
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From page 73... ...
VESSEL TRAFFIC Vessel Types A variety of vessels operate in the Aleutian Islands, ranging from small local supply barges, to vessels associated with the fishing trade, to cargo vessels transiting the area to or from Pacific Coast ports. For purposes of a risk assessment of shipping operations in the Aleutians, this vessel traffic can be divided into two broad categories.
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From page 74... ...
Fishing vessels operate mainly out of Dutch Harbor; local tug–barges, small cargo vessels, and work boats operate out of either Dutch Harbor or other, smaller Aleutian ports in addition to making up some north–south traffic to and from more distant Alaskan locations. 1 Many of these vessels operate out of Dutch Harbor and typically make two or more transits (two transits is one round-trip)
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From page 75... ...
As an aid to estimating the future risks of spills, the report calculates the volumes of oil carried by the various types of commercial vessels that use the Great Circle Route through the Aleutians, thereby estimating the volumes and types of oil moved through the region. To supplement the Nuka report, the committee requested and received from USCG 2 years of AIS vessel tracking data for Unimak Pass (covering fiscal years 2006 and 2007, and thus expanding the Nuka data set)
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From page 76... ...
Although a few reports of noncompliance with the AIS carriage requirements were received, the actual rate of compliance is unknown. Since large commercial vessels transiting this route call on both U.S.
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From page 77... ...
estimates fuel oil carried by certain vessel types; the report also totals chemical tankers and liquefied natural gas carriers, oil barges, and so forth and estimates the materials they carry. According to the report, tankers may carry, on average, 400 million gallons of oil as cargo and fuel, while large containerships and bulkers typically carry 1.6 million and 0.5 million gallons of oil as fuel, respectively.
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From page 78... ...
. More accurate estimates of the amounts and types of oil carried as cargo or fuel by vessels transiting the Aleutians can be derived from AIS data.
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From page 79... ...
are considered to be more ecologically damaging than oil spills.3 Today the Fish and Wildlife Service and its partners are working to control the spread of rats to uninfected islands through education and outreach activities, as well as to eradicate rats from islands where they have become established. VESSEL ACCIDENTS A significant number and variety of vessel accidents have occurred in the Aleutian region over the past few decades, and several data sources can be consulted to determine their causes, circumstances, consequences, and trends.
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From page 80... ...
Box 4-1 summarizes circumstances and events for five selected vessel accidents in the Aleutians illustrating a variety of conditions, vessel types, causal factors, and consequences. These examples illustrate some key issues related to recent vessel incidents in the region and can serve as a first approximation of some typical accident scenarios for use in the Phase A Preliminary Risk Assessment, along with others as appropriate.
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From page 81... ...
Vessel Traffic, Accidents, and Spills in the Aleutians • 81 BOX 4-1 Circumstances and Events Surrounding Five Selected Vessel Accidents in the Aleutian Region M/V Selendang Ayu • Vessel: Malaysian-registered bulk carrier, 738 ft, 40,000 gross tons • Carrying: 60,000 tons of soybeans and 1,000 tons of fuel oil • Casualty: Lost power; vessel ran aground and broke up after drifting 100 miles to land • Date: November–December 2004 • Location: North shore of Unalaska Island • Consequences: Six fatalities, one serious injury; $12 million vessel loss; rescue helicopter crashed; 336,000 gallons of heavy fuel oil spilled • Causal factors: – Main engine failure; crew unable to repair and restart – Severe weather and high winds and seas contributing to problems with repair work and rescue operations – Failure to notify authorities and seek assistance in a timely manner – Lack of adequate emergency towing and anchoring gear – Inadequate prior engine maintenance – Lack of adequate rescue/towing vessel and equipment in the region – Lack of proper survival equipment for crew M/V Kuroshima • Vessel: Japanese-registered freighter, 367 ft • Carrying: Fisheries cargo and bunker fuel oil • Casualty: Vessel dragged anchor in harbor and ran aground • Date: November 1997 • Location: Dutch Harbor • Consequences: One fatality; vessel damage; 40,000 gallons of heavy fuel oil spilled onto beach and freshwater lake (continued )
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From page 82... ...
82 • Risk of Vessel Accidents and Spills in the Aleutian Islands BOX 4-1 (continued ) Circumstances and Events Surrounding Five Selected Vessel Accidents in the Aleutian Region • Causal factors: – Severe storm, high winds and seas – Inadequate emergency anchoring system – Lack of adequate tow/rescue tug in region M/V Cougar ACE • Vessel: Singapore-registered car carrier, 654 ft • Carrying: 4,800 vehicles, 180,000 gallons of fuel • Casualty: Vessel heeled over 80 degrees, was adrift without power for a few days • Date: July 2006 • Location: South of Aleutians • Consequences: One fatality; vessel damage; vessel able to be towed to Dutch Harbor for repairs; near-miss polluting event • Causal factors: Investigations under way T/B Foss 256 • Vessel: U.S.-registered tug–barge unit • Carrying: Fuel oil cargo for Navy facility in western Aleutians • Casualty: High winds pushed barge over rocks while oil was being transferred to shore; vessel ran aground, and several cargo tanks were penetrated • Date: January 1989 • Location: Amchitka Island, western Aleutians • Consequences: 84,000 gallons of diesel oil spilled; no cleanup • Causal factors: – Severe weather – No emergency response equipment in the area – Other factors unknown (continued )
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From page 83... ...
issued a report on oil spills from 1996 to 2004, which contained a section on the Aleutians. The data show just two significant vessel spills (i.e., more than 10,000 gallons)
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From page 84... ...
of Incidents 20 15 10 5 0 Fishing Barges Cargo ships Research Tankers vessels vessels Vessel Type FIGURE 4-2 Number of oil spill incidents by source for which NOAA has provided response assistance in the Aleutians, 1981–1999.
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From page 85... ...
FIGURE 4-3 Map with detail on spills of at least 1,000 gallons from 1981 to 2006 throughout the Aleutian region. (Source: Nuka Research and Planning Group 2006.)
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From page 86... ...
• There were seven vessel spills of more than 35,000 gallons: Diesel or Date Ship Heavy Oil Amount (gallons)
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From page 87... ...
GALLONS Gallons Released Number of Spills COUNT 500,000 5 400,000 4 300,000 3 200,000 2 100,000 1 0 0 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 FISCAL YEAR (c) FIGURE 4-4 Spill trends in the Aleutians by fiscal year, month, and size, 1996– 2005: (a)
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From page 88... ...
Because no investigation report is available on this incident that would provide detailed information on the sequence of events leading to the incident as there is for the M/V Selendang Ayu and the other accidents
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From page 89... ...
. • Of the 10 cargo vessel spills, two were from tank barges, seven from self-propelled ships, and one from a vessel designated simply as a tank vessel.
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From page 90... ...
International law gives each coastal state broad jurisdictional authority to prescribe and enforce within its territorial seas, subject to the right of innocent passage. Since Unimak Pass is an international strait, foreign vessels enjoy the right of transit passage through it, as well as through waters north and south of the Aleutian Islands.
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From page 91... ...
While transit passage refers to the right of passage through an international strait, innocent passage refers specifically to the right of passage through a territorial sea when not calling at a port (for the United States, up to 12 nautical miles from the baseline)
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From page 92... ...
with which vessel operators have contracted to respond to an actual or potential oil spill. The closest OSRO to Unimak Pass and the Aleutian Island chain is in Cook Inlet, about 1,200 nautical miles from the pass.
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From page 93... ...
As a result, there are currently single-hull tank barges moving petroleum products within the Aleutian region that have no mandated retirement date. The risks related to operating single-hull tank barges in this rela tively pristine region, known for its severe and changeable weather, need to be understood.
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From page 94... ...
, relative to the control of vessel operations, which exempts from compliance ships in innocent passage through the territorial sea of the United States or transiting navigable waters of the United States that form part of an international strait. As previously noted, however, if a foreign-flagged vessel is en route to a port or other place within the United States, additional requirements, such as a vessel spill VRP for a tanker carrying oil in bulk that includes a Geographic Specific Appendix (GSA)
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From page 95... ...
2006. National Transportation Safety Board Marine Accident Brief, Grounding of Malaysian-Flag Bulk Carrier M/V Selendang Ayu on North Shore of Unalaska Island, Alaska.
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