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Brief Pipeline Shutdown
The pipeline was shut down for approximately 25 minutes on Saturday morning, April 22, when the Operations Control Center (OCC) in Valdez lost communication with a mainline valve at Pump Station 11 just before 10:00 a.m. When the communication alarm did not clear within the required two minutes, operators in the OCC followed established safety procedures and began shutting down the pipeline. A visual inspection by an on-site TAPS employee confirmed that the valve was open and functioning properly.
The communication loss was caused by a "trip" in the
valve’s programmable logic computer (PLC). The PLC
was reset and communication was restored. The pipeline was restarted by 10:30 a.m. and operations returned to normal 15 minutes later.
Prevention Response Tug in Seward for
Repairs
The prevention response tug, ATTENTIVE, on her
way from Seattle to Valdez, developed a hydraulic fluid
leak in the port Aquamaster propulsion drive unit.
During the trip, total of 1.5 gallons was released in
to the Gulf of Alaska and Prince William Sound over a
36 hour period. The vessel is currently in dry dock in
Seward for evaluation and repair. Representatives
from Crowley Marine Services and Aquamaster are on
hand.
Tug Christening Scheduled for Wednesday
The ALERT, the first of three Prevention and
Response Tugs, will be christened this week at the
Alyeska dock in Valdez by Jenny Gale, wife of Captain
Roger Gale, recently retired Vice President of
BP Oil Shipping Company, USA. Special guests on hand
for the event will include Richard Campbell, President
of BP Exploration, Alaska and Anne Drinkwater,
President of BP Pipelines (Alaska) Inc. The ALERT and
her two sister vessels - the ATTENTIVE, which arrived
last week in Valdez, and the AWARE, due to arrive in July - were purposely built for tanker escort operations in Prince William Sound by Crowley Marine Services. These 140-foot, 10,000-horsepower vessels are also equipped for firefighting and emergency response and carry oil spill recovery equipment. Stills and a
Video News Release will be made available Thursday,
April 27.
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