WEEK OF DECEMBER 18, 2000
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Alyeska’s
Berth 4 Back in Service
Berth 4 at Alyeska’s Valdez Marine Terminal returned
to service on Saturday, December 16th. The
first tanker began loading at Berth 4 at 9:47 AM and finished loading at 6:04 PM.
Terminal
operators brought three of the berth’s four loading arms back to full capacity. This action was to test the redesigned loading
arms with the original 24-inch flow valves. The
three functional loading arms performed to expectations with no abnormal vibration. The loading capacity of the berth with three arms
is 82,500 bph.
Maintenance work
on the berth began in August when Alyeska engineers sought to place the berth under a
10-year maintenance rotation. This step
included installation of 16-inch flow valves. When
the new loading arms were tested in September, terminal personnel noticed cavitation as
flow volume increased. After analyzing the
situation, Alyeska decided to reinstall the 24-inch valves.
Three of the four original valves were available for immediate installation. Alyeska sought to test the three valves before
installing a fourth valve. Upon successful
loading for a few days, a decision will be made regarding the installation of the fourth
valve.
Alyeska has
operated without any impact to the West Coast energy supply since the repair work began in
Valdez.
Pipeline
Reliability for November 2000
November Reliability 100%
2000 Reliability 99.64%
November Throughput 30,407,000 BBLS
November Daily Average: 1,014,000 BPD
2000 Throughput: 333,431,000 BBLS
2000 Daily Average:
995,000 BPD
The
pipeline reliability factor is the amount of time the pipeline is operating and available
to transport North Slope Crude oil. There
were no prorations of production during
November.
Terminal Spill Group Reaches 10 Years Without LTA
In
early December, Alyeska’s SERVS/TCC Terminal Oil Spill Group reached a significant
safety milestone by operating for 10 years without a lost time accident. A lost time accident is one that disrupts the
normal operations of a particular work group.
Thus,
the Terminal Oil Group worked 3,652 days (87,648 hours; or 788,832 work hours) without
disruption from a lost time accident. The men
and women who work in the marine environment for Alyeska face many unique safety
challenges as evidenced by this particular group’s primary duty. In all kinds of weather, day or night, 365 days a
year, oil spill teams deploy containment boom around each and every tanker before any
deballasting or loading operations begin at the Valdez Marine Terminal.
This
is significant because marine operators work in an environment that sees an accident rate
double that of land based industry. TCC
is a joint venture of three Alaska Native Corporations including Tatitlek Corporation,
Chenega Corporation and Chugach Alaska Corporation to provide oil spill prevention and
response within the Prince William Sound area in support of Alyeska’s SERVS.
Transportation Award Recognizes Alyeska’s SERVS
On
November 15, 2000, the Department of Transportation held their 33rd annual DOT Award
Ceremony in Washington, D.C. Alyeska Pipeline
Service Company/SERVS, along with 38 other member agencies who participated in Operation
Safe Catch Development Team; USCG Ocean Engineering Division, Viscous Oil Pumping and
Lightering Workgroup, was honored with the Secretary’s Team Award.
The
objectives of the working group included bringing together knowledgeable individuals to
share information on how best to lighter viscous oil and provide real world training and
experience that would lead to major improvements in the USCG, Navy and industry’s
salvage, lightering and viscous oil pumping capability and readiness.
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