Specific Challenges of Salvage & Oil Lightering in Remote Arctic Locations

Kerry Walsh Salvage Master

Marine Casualty Project ManagerGlobal Diving & Salvage, Inc.

Marine Construction

• Founded in 1979

• Presently over 350 employees

About Global

HONESTY ∙ SAFETY ∙PROFESSIONAL PRIDE & PASSION

• Regional Offices– Alaska– California– Gulf Coast – Pacific Northwest

Marine Construction

• Staff and manage complex casualty response projects — from planning and design to field execution

• Emergency Responses for:

– vessels in distress

– lightering operations

– casualty containment

– environmental mitigation

• Resource for oil removal, recovery, and disposal

Casualty Response

Recent projects:

• Drilling Rig KULLUK – Strand - Kodiak Island, AK

Recent projects:

• Drilling Rig KULLUK – Strand - Kodiak Island, AK • T/V POLAR WIND & Barge UNIMAK TRADER – Strand - Ulkolnoi Island, AK

Recent projects:

• Drilling Rig KULLUK – Strand - Kodiak Island, AK • T/V POLAR WIND & Barge UNIMAK TRADER – Strand - Ulkolnoi Island, AK • F/V DEEP SEA – Sunk – Penn Cove, Whidbey Island, WA

Recent projects:

• Drilling Rig KULLUK – Strand - Kodiak Island, AK • T/V POLAR WIND & Barge UNIMAK TRADER – Strand - Ulkolnoi Island, AK • F/V DEEP SEA – Sunk – Penn Cove, Whidbey Island, WA• Hydrogen Reactor Salvage – Cherry Point, WA

Recent projects:

• Drilling Rig KULLUK – Strand - Kodiak Island, AK • T/V POLAR WIND & Barge UNIMAK TRADER – Strand - Ulkolnoi Island, AK • F/V DEEP SEA – Sunk – Penn Cove, Whidbey Island, WA• Hydrogen Reactor Salvage – Cherry Point, WA• Assessment of the wreck of the MONTEBELLO – Cambria, CA

Marine Construction

• Serving the offshore oil and gas industry in the Gulf of Mexico, Alaska and internationally

• Support services for platforms, pipelines, etc.

• Surface and Saturation Dive Systems capable to 1000 FSW and configured to accommodate a variety of deck layout plans

Offshore Support

Marine Construction

• Serving:

– Marine & Civil Construction & Engineering Markets

– Federal, State, Municipal & Private Sector

• In house engineering, design and fabrication capabilities

• Fleet of ROVs and experienced pilots, Sonar, Bathometry

Construction Engineering & Technology

6,640 miles of coastlineincluding islands - 33,904 miles of shoreline

Industries & Resources utilizing the Marine Environment in Alaska

• Oil/Gas – Cook Inlet and Arctic operations

• Mining – Red Dog, near shore Nome, SE Alaska

• Timber – Southeast and south central • Fishing/Aquaculture – All coastal waters • Tourism – Primarily SE, south central and, lately, the Arctic

• Cargo Vessels – Ships and barges hauling freight to and from Alaska

• Vessels in Transit – Ships and barges transiting the Great Circle route pass through the Aleutians

Vessel Traffic North Pacific & AlaskaOne Day in April 2013

Nome

Point Barrow

Marine Exchange of Alaska Arctic Maritime Activity in 2012

M/V STRYKER Salvage

M/V STRYKER Salvage

M/V STRYKER Salvage

• Casualty occurred at approximately 1130 on September 14, 2010

• Vessel reported that the wheelhouse partially separated from the vessel due to structural failure. Stern resting on the seafloor

• 40 Miles West of Prudhoe Bay on the east side of the Colville River Delta. N70°31’19”, W150°5’44”

M/V STRYKER Salvage

• Owners engaged Global to respond immediately to affect salvage of the vessel. Salvage Master mobilized from Portland and salvage crew and equipment from Anchorage.

• Owners reported having engaged 2 shallow draft tugs and a crane barge to assist.

• Salvage crew and gear arrived at and boarded the casualty at 1700 September 16.

M/V STRYKER Salvage

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M/V STRYKER Salvage

• Self Propelled barge constructed from 20 Flexifloat modular barges

• 140’ x 40’ with maximum draft of 7’• Twin 671 Detroit Diesel engines

M/V STRYKER Salvage

• Stern rests hard abottom in 14 feet of water• Bottom consists of thick, sticky mud• Heavily damaged pins marginally holding the vessel together at the break• Forward section badly wasted with no integrity

M/V STRYKER Salvage

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M/V STRYKER Salvage

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M/V STRYKER Salvage

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M/V STRYKER Salvage

M/V STRYKER Salvage

Challenges –

Remote location with extremely volatile weather. Air freight of gear and access to casualty weather dependent.

Floating resources were available but lacking in capability – i.e. Crane barge with no ability to moor.

Casualty located very near Iñupiat village on the Colville River Delta – impact to subsistence

Wildlife - Polar Bears

M/V STRYKER Salvage

Positives –

Access to all of the resources available in Deadhorse and Prudhoe Bay.

Lodging and transportation at nearby base camp.

Alaska Clean Seas for on water support and pollution response.

Excellent logistics support.

Internet and telephone communications.

M/V STRYKER Salvage

M/V CLIPPER ADVENTURER

• 331’ vessel grounded on Friday, August 27, 2010 in a remote bay in northern Canada.

• The location is exposed to strong weather fronts generating significant wind and ocean swells.

• A total of 13 double bottom tanks were breeched. The extentof the damage was from the fore peak to well aft of amidships.

M/V CLIPPER ADVENTURER

CLIPPER ANDVENTURER

M/V CLIPPER ADVENTURER

Casualty

Command Post

380 Miles

Safe Harbor

220 miles

M/V CLIPPER ADVENTURER

M/V CLIPPER ADVENTURER

Port Epworth

Cambridge Bay

M/V CLIPPER ADVENTURER

Challenges –

Onshore command centre at Yellowknife which is several hundred miles from the location.

Poor communications with satellite service unstable that far north. Logistically difficult due to the remoteness of the location with no “local” services to support the operation.

Transportation to/from site was limited to float planes with marginal fuel capacity for the distance travelled

M/V CLIPPER ADVENTURER

Aircraft landings on site was weather dependent. On occasions the weather would change after the aircraft was in flight.

Unpredictable weather systems which may not be forecast by weather service.

Inadequate support vessels / bollard pull available. No border custom clearance point in the Canadian Arctic which meant that equipment mob and demob were “challenging”.

Limited season to work due to short arctic summers.

AIS Receiver Locations in Alaska

AIS Receiver Locations in Canada

Arctic Operations Future Efforts are Necessary

• Recognize that the Arctic marine environment will be affected by International trade and vessel transits

• Best engineering practices for new infrastructure• Pre-stage gear with applicable plans for mobilization and

cascading of equipment and resources• Cooperative efforts that combine available resources and

technologies with Area Contingency Plans• Continued analysis of specific case projects• Continued assessment of various locations utilizing subject

matter experts coupled with local knowledge

Conclusions

• The Arctic is unique with regard to area and response capabilities

• New operations, exploration and development offer the US and Canada an opportunity to engineer and plan for emergency response using newer technologies and lessons learned elsewhere

Emphasis should be given to Prevention to reduce the need for Response