The Shipping Safety Partnership
Since its inception in January, 2005, the Shipping
Safety Partnership (SSP) has become one of the broadest, most
diverse, and unique citizen coalitions in Alaska history. The group now
involves thousands of Alaska Natives, commercial
fishermen, conservationists, and scientists
as members. Seldom, if ever, have this many diverse interests
collaborated on any issue in Alaska, making the SSP a truly historic
endeavor. The overall goal of the SSP is to reduce the risk of shipping
disasters in the North Pacific, and the membership signing onto this
goal continues to expand.
The combined efforts of the newly formed SSP have
already made substantial progress in a very short time. SSP members
organized the first "Selendang Ayu and the Future of Shipping Safety"
public forum in Anchorage on March 29. The Forum brought together
representatives of the State of Alaska, US
Coast Guard, Alaska Maritime National Wildlife
Refuge, the National Pollution Funds Center,
and the shipping industry to publicly discuss the Selendang
Ayu and measures to increase the safety of North Pacific
shipping in general. The Secretary General of the
International Association of Dry Cargo Ship-owners (or
"Intercargo") from London committed at the Forum to consider a proposal
to establish a cargo fee to address the pollution risk from cargo
ships, and pledged support for additional safety measures including a
vessel tracking system. Many SSP members and others participated in
this Forum, and the event received considerable press coverage..
Many of the preliminary risk-reduction proposals
forwarded to government officials from the SSP are now in consideration
in Washington - vessel tracking, rescue tugs, communication protocols,
areas-to-be-avoided, traffic separation schemes, etc. The US
Coast Guard has already agreed to install the initial
component of a vessel tacking system in Dutch harbor this spring. As a
direct result of SSP effort, there is growing awareness in public,
industry, and government of the issues surrounding the Selendang
disaster and shipping safety in general - a necessary precursor to
progress on the issue. The SSP has recognized that the Selendang
disaster is an opportunity to fix not just the dangerous shipping route
through the Aleutians, but also to fix the many other shipping routes
through US waters, much as the Exxon Valdez spill
catalyzed improvement in our national oil transportation system in
1990. SSP members testified at the only Committee hearing held to-date
in the Alaska Legislature on the Selendang Ayu, asking, among many
other things, for an emergency legislative appropriation of $5 million
from the state's spill prevention fund to charter an interim rescue tug
to be stationed at Unimak Pass while a permanent solution is enacted.
The SSP list serve, maintained by the Alaska
Oceans Program, has become the single-source of credible
information on the Selendang and efforts to improve shipping safety. It
is a far more trusted source of thinking and information than is the
government/industry joint unified command system.
Through SSP initiative, the issue of the federal Oil
Spill Liability Trust Fund running out of money in three
years has begun to receive much-needed attention on capitol hill. And
the concept of establishing a new cargo fee on all cargo shipped across
US ports in order to pay for prevention and response assets along our
nation's cargo shipping routes is gaining momentum as well. And SSP
members have been in continuous contact over the past three months with
federal and state authorities regarding risk-reduction measures they
can implement administratively. SSP members remain in direct contact
with the Governor, state agencies, members of Congress, and commanders
in the U.S. Coast Guard to motivate progress on these issues. A Freedom
of Information Act (FOIA) request has just been sent to the
Commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard requesting a copy of the Coast
Guard's internal "Senior Incident Review Panel"
report on the Selendang disaster.
At its inception, the SSP recognized that the
'window-of-opportunity' to leverage this disaster into a safer shipping
system would only be open for perhaps a year, and thus our work took on
a great sense of urgency. There are many opportunities to fix this
situation and protect the marine ecosystems through which these vessels
sail - but time is indeed short and the window of opportunity will
close, and soon. The next 3-6 months will be critical - we will need to
maintain momentum and citizen pressure, or it is clear that government
and industry will simply relax back into status-quo. This is
unacceptable. Quite honestly, the SSP is the only thing at
present that prevents government and industry from slipping back into
their well-established, comfortable complacency on this issue, and thus
the importance of the SSP is paramount.
Shipping
Safety Partnership-Next Steps
Now that a Future
of Shipping Safety Public Forum has been held in Anchorage (March 29,
2005) and a North Pacific Shipping Safety Forum in Seattle (December
12, 2005), efforts are urgently needed to continue to apply pressure
aggressively in government, the shipping industry and the public. We
feel that a full effort needs to be mounted over the next 3-6 months to
make certain this opportunity to improve the safety of shipping and
protection of our marine ecosystem is not lost.
Government
Administrative level:
State (Alaska Dept of Environmental Conservation) and Federal (US Coast
Guard, both in Alaska and DC)
Legislative level:
Alaska Legislature and US Congress
Goals are to encourage legislature and Congress to hold hearings to
address shipping safety in Alaska and other U.S. waters, and implement
stronger prevention measures the SSP has requested. Efforts to amend
Oil Protection Act 90 are a central aspect of the congressional
approach.
While a permanent solution is being developed, the
SSP requests that interim standby rescue tugs be stationed at Unimak
pass to be at the ready for future shipping groundings.
Shipping Industry
SSP continues to work with shipping industry
groups such as Intercargo, World Shipping Council, etc. to engage
stakeholders outside of the government process. We will continue
explore what ship owners are willing to implement voluntarily and what
they may be willing to support on a regulatory front.
Public
Public involvement continues through informing SSP
members of progress, additional members join partnership and media
continues to be engaged. The public can help support the SSP efforts
toward greater protection for this refuge by donating
online to the Alaska Oceans Program, or
mail your donation to:
Alaska Oceans Program
308 G Street, Suite 219
Anchorage, AK 99501
907-929-9375
*We are over 50% of the
way to reaching our goal of $175,000. Thank you for considering
contributing the the SSP efforts!
Background of SSP Formation
In response to the tragic Selendang Ayu
grounding off Unalaska in December 2004, a number of organizations
gathered on January 18, 2005 in Anchorage and via teleconference to
discuss measures that would effectively prevent such a tragedy in the
future. Participants included representatives of several Unalaska
interests, Oceana, World Wildlife Fund, The Nature
Conservancy, Alaska Marine Conservation Council, Cook Inlet Citizens
Advisory Council, Prince William Sound Citizens Advisory Council,
Pacific Environment, Defenders of Wildlife, US Fish and Wildlife
Service, Alaska Oceans Program, Cook Inletkeeper, Alaska Center for
the Environment, Alaska Marine Conservation Council, and
several others.
There was broad agreement in the group that the
window of opportunity to reduce the risk in the freight shipping trade
through the Aleutians is wide open at present, but will likely close
quickly. The group discussed many measures that we feel would provide
cost-effective prevention in this heavily traveled maritime trade
route. To achieve some of these measures for safer shipping through the
Aleutians and other Alaskan and US waters, the group founded an ad hoc
coalition / task force the "Shipping Safety Partnership" (SSP).
The consensus is that together, through the SSP,
we can exert far more effective leverage to accomplish our many common
goals in this issue.
Any organizations / individuals that may share
common objectives of safer shipping in the Aleutians are welcome to
join the SSP, whether it be official membership or as a non-member
participating on an informational basis.
Current SSP Members
Alaska Center for the
Environment
Alaska
Community Action on Toxics
Alaska
Forum for Environmental Responsibility
Alaska
Marine Conservation Council
Alaska
Oceans Program
Alaska
Wildlife Alliance
Aleut
Corporation
Aleut Marine Mammal Commission
Aleutian
Pribilof Island Association
Bering Sea Fisherman's Association
Cook
Inletkeeper
Greenpeace
International
Bering Sea Forum
Northwest
Urban Indian Community
Ocean Advocates
Pacific
Environment
People For Puget Sound
Petroleum Environmental Network-
China
Sakhalin
Environmental Watch
The
Mountaineers
TDX
Corporation
Unalaska Native Fisherman Association
World
Wildlife Fund
Jim
Ayers, Vice President, Pacific, Oceana
Dave Cline, wildlife conservation
consultant
Rick
Steiner, Professor and Conservation Specialist, Alaska Sea Grant Marine Advirsory Program-University of
Alaska Fairbanks
SSP Goal
To improve shipping safety along primary North
Pacific cargo shipping routes, in particular along the "Great Circle
Route" through the Aleutian Islands / southern Bering Sea. The group's
primary focus is to reduce the risk of groundings / collisions / spills
from the several thousand merchant vessels each year that trade between
ports on the west coast of North America and Asia, transiting waters
off Alaska.
SSP Membership
The SSP is an informal association / partnership
of any and all interest groups and individuals sharing the common goal
referenced above. It can include Alaska Native organizations
(corporations, tribes, non-profits), commercial fishing organizations,
environmental / conservation groups, municipalities / village
governments, shippers, universities, state / federal agencies, etc. The
SSP will seek as broad and inclusive a membership as possible, as it is
clear that many diverse groups share common interests on this issue.
SSP Solutions in Discussion:
- Aleutian Islands Vessel Traffic Risk
Assessment - commissioned by state / federal government, to
be conducted by reputable, independent maritime organizations, and to
include at a minimum the following:
- A characterization of all vessel traffic
(vessel names, owners, cargoes, flags and crews, frequency and routes
traveled, casualty history, etc.) along the cargo route through the
Aleutian Islands;
- A Casualty Risk Analysis using a complete
history of vessel casualties, expert judgment and Marine Accident Risk
Calculation System to estimate frequency and location of potential
casualties and areas of critical concern; and
- Potential risk mitigation / reduction
measures -- quantitative assessment of various risk-reduction measures.
- Establishment of real-time vessel
tracking system for all large vessels - using Automatic
Identification System (AIS) coupled with Inmarsat-C / or HF capability
on vessels (or other technology as appropriate) - and continuous
tracking of all such vessels by US Coast Guard. Requirement / Request
that all vessels transiting the Aleutian route subscribe to /
participate in the Vessel tracking / monitoring system.
- Strategic stationing of 3 rescue /
salvage tugs along the Aleutian traffic route - at least
15,000 hp (greater than 175 bollard pull), Voith Schneider Propulsion
"tractor" tugs (as in PWS), or equivalent, capable of connecting a tow
line and rendering a save to any disabled vessel in the majority of sea
conditions anywhere along the route. Likely, one at Dutch Harbor /
Unimak, and one at Shemya. These 3 tugs should have sufficient gear for
the task -- line guns, sufficient strength spectra tow line,
fire-fighting monitors, etc... and trials should be conducted to
demonstrate effectiveness.
- Possibility of emergency tow packages
to be required on all large merchant vessels (as required on tankers by
IMO) - to aid in the connection of a tow line in emergencies.
And pre-identified anchorages of refuge where partially disabled
vessels can either proceed under their own power to anchor and/or where
disabled vessels can be towed.
- Communication protocols / agreements
between USCG / vessel owners / operators requiring all vessel
masters to immediately radio the USCG tracking center (Rescue
Coordination Center - Juneau?) when / if any situation arises that
could lead to a casualty - including any engine problem, steerage
problem, hull integrity issue, any other mechanical problem of
potential consequence, etc.
- Improved spill response capability
along the Aleutian route - booms, lightering capability,
skimmers, pumps, barges / bladders, training / contracting of local
residents in spill response, etc. Investigate legislative options to
improve spill prevention / response capability along the Aleutian route.
- Consideration of routing further from
shore - in instances where these large vessels transit near
sensitive habitats, requesting future transits to move further offshore
to allow more sea room to mitigate potential casualties and provide for
effective rescue (Areas To Be Avoided (ATBA), Particularly Sensitive
Sea Areas (PSSA), etc.) And, possibility of weather restrictions for
transiting Unimak Pass ,traffic separation schemes, etc.
- Agreement with all shippers to seek to minimize
invasive species introductions from shipping, including ballast water discharge, invasive seeds in cargo, biological spills and rats as soon as
possible. Additionall, mandatory regulations that rat shipwreck response equipment be aboard vessels and in cases of ship groundings, expertise assistance be sought by USFWS staff to prevent rat spills.
- Potential improvement of vessel
construction standards, e.g. improved hull strength,
redundant propulsion/ steerage, protected full tanks, etc.
- Funding - Oil Spill
Liability Trust Fund (OSLTF) will now be replenished and capped at $2.7
billion. We are recommending that language be clarified allowing this
money to be used for all of the aboveprevention and response measures.
In addition, we recommend the establishment of a new cargo fee by which
all cargo ship owners will contribute to the OSLTF as well as the oil
shippers.
Progress to Date:
- The State and Federal government have called
for the USCG and State to conduct an Aleutian Islands Vessel Traffic
Risk Assessment.
- Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund (OSLTF) has been
replenished- tax reinstituted/ cap raised to $2.7 billion.
- Initial component of vessel tracking system
installed- Automatic Identification System (AIS) installed at Unimak
Pass.
- Missile Defense Agency’s new tug in
Adak (the Dove)- May be available for response in central Aleutians.
- Greater awareness of the risks of vessel
traffic in the Southern Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands. Southern
Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands.
Background on the emergency towing vessel (ETV)
concept
This is the type of tug that should be on-standby
at Unimak 24/7, at least while the Risk Assessment is being completed.
Long Term Actions of the SSP
The SSP has requested an initial meeting between
SSP representatives and the State of Alaska to discuss an NGO incident
report on the Selendang Ayu that is currently being produced and
explore further actions that need to be taken to prevent future oil
spill accidents. A call on Congress for a Congressional hearing on risk
assessment and the need for increased preparedness will be the next
steps following this meeting.
SSP Collaboration Events
Washington and Alaska Oil Spill Forum
in Seattle, WA hosted December 12, 2005 at the Mountaineers Tahoma Room
meeting space in downtown Seattle at 300 3rd Ave West
Why: To educate and discuss preventing
future catastrophic oil spills.
 The forum
was hosted to further discuss Washington State's struggles with
inadequate spill prevention and continued threats
to the Magnuson Amendment limiting tanker traffic in Puget Sound and to
look at lessons learned in light of the one year anniversary on
December 8th of the disastrous Selendang Ayu grounding and oil spill in
the Aleutian Islands of Alaska.
The forum brought together experts from Alaska and
Washington to discuss how to prevent catastrophic oil spills in our
precious waters and was co-sponsored by: People For Puget Sound, Ocean
Advocates, Shipping Safety Partnership, Alaska Oceans Program,
University of Alaska Marine Advisory Program, ReSources and Pacific
Environment.
Speakers/Panelists
Congressman Jay Inslee
— Opening remarks
Senator Maria Cantwell's State Director Bill Dunbar
— Opening remarks
Fred Felleman — Ocean
Advocates: The Magnuson Amendment
Rick Steiner — Shipping Safety
Partnership: Lessons from Alaska
Walter Parker — Member, Price
William Sound Regional Citizens’ Advisory Council; former
Chair, Alaska Oil Spill Commission: Historical Perspective
Read Walter's
presentation on Oil Tankers: Operations from Alaska to the West Coast
Kathy Fletcher — People For
Puget Sound: Oil spill issues in Washington state
Mike Cooper — Chair of the
Washington State Oil Spill Citizens Advisory Council: About
the new council
Chad Bowechop — Ocean Policy
Advisor, Makah Tribe: Tribal perspective
Audience questions and discussion.
Further information at www.pugetsound.org.
Other Threats to Shipping Safety and our Natural
Marine Resources
Rat Spill Prevention- How you can keep your vessel rat free
Questions?
Contact Rick Steiner
Professor and Conservation Specialist
University of Alaska Marine Advisory Program
ph: 907-786-4156
fx: 907-786-6312
afrgs@uaa.alaska.edu
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