The ARCO Juneau, the first tanker to transport oil from the Valdez Marine Terminal, will make her final voyage from Alaska on Monday, January 19. The Juneau will deliver this last shipment of North Slope Crude to the West Coast before going to lay-up in Portland, Oregon, according to Kurt Hallier, ARCO Port Captain. Based on the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (OPA), tankers are limited in the number of years they can carry crude oil. The ARCO Juneau reached her OPA life this year.

Hallier said at this time it is unclear what the ARCO Juneau's final fate will be. "At this point we plan to get her cleaned up and then will make some decisions as to her final disposition," said Hallier.

In addition to being the first tanker to receive oil at the terminal on August 1, 1977, the ARCO Juneau made 579 voyages to Valdez and transported over 480 million barrels of oil. On August 1, 1997, during the Trans Alaska Pipeline System's 20th anniversary, the ARCO Juneau recreated the first sailing of a tanker from the Valdez Marine Terminal.

John Baldridge, Valdez Marine Terminal Manager, said to date the Juneau has carried more crude oil from the terminal than any other vessel.

A spill response mini-barge sustained damage when it was dropped to the deck of a response barge during lifting of the mini-barge from the dock in Cordova on January 13. The response barge was in Cordova to replace the twelve mini-barges stored in that community. One of the mini-barges slipped from its basket sling as it was being brought on board the response barge and dropped approximately 15 feet to the deck of the response barge. The response barge received minor damage. No one was injured.