Face to Face
Tammy Holmes
Marine Technician

Tammy Holmes had the quintessential Alaskan childhood: Born and raised in the remote town of Kenny Lake, population 400, Holmes’ family lived in a log cabin with no running water or electricity.

Today, Holmes’ home is Valdez, where the 800-mile trans-Alaska pipeline ends at the Valdez Marine Terminal. There, Holmes serves as a berth operator, overseeing the smooth and safe loading of massive tankers that haul crude oil.

Describe the process of loading a tanker.

Our initial job is to safely coordinate the positioning of the ship with the pilot and tugs.  A crew of line handlers work with the ship and the line boats to safely tie up the vessel to the berth. Then we’ll connect the arms, and a berth operator ensures that the vessel meets all the requirements for the state and Coast Guard. The oil is gravity fed and comes down from the tank farms to our header, where we adjust the valves and load the ship. 

How long does it take to load a tanker?

A tanker can load at a maximum rate of 100,000 barrels per hour. Some of the smaller ships can come in and take 250,000 barrels of oil, and some of the newer ships can come in and take 1.4 million barrels of oil. The amount of oil that we load depends on how much oil they have at Valdez. That’s established in advance through the Operations Control Center in Anchorage.

How did you get your job?

After college, I got a temp office administrative job at Alyeska’s Ship Escort Response Vessel System (SERVS), and went on to hold several admin positions. After a while, I felt ready for a new challenge. I became an intern in the Marine Operations Department and here I am. The intern program was a good fit for a person with the right personality and attitude, but maybe not the required operational skills. I have always been told, “You can teach someone the skills, but you can’t teach them a new personality and attitude.”

Why do you like your work?

All the tankers tell us repeatedly how No. 1 we are with our systems and processes here and how they love to come to this terminal because it’s safe, it’s organized, it’s clean, it’s efficient and it works. We have a good group of people who make it as smooth as possible for the ships that come in.

I absolutely love my job. I get to work outside in Prince William Sound, which I think is the most beautiful scenery around – in both great and not-so-great weather. I also get to interact and work with lots of people. Also, when people ask what I do for a living, it’s cool to say that I load oil tankers.