The Polar Endeavor tanker, operated by an affiliate of Phillips Petroleum Co., is shown en route to Alaska on its maiden voyage to take on the first cargo of Alaskan North Slope crude oil to be transported by a double hulled crude carrier-a design mandated by federal law following the 1989 Exxon Valdex oil spill off Alaska-purpose-built for the Alaskan oil trade. Photo courtesy of Phillips.
Phillips Petroleum Co. loaded the first cargo of Alaskan North Slope crude oil in mid-July on the first double-hulled tanker built specifically for the Alaskan trade under new federal oil spill prevention rules.
The 125,000 dwt Millennium-class Polar Endeavour, operated by Phillips unit Polar Tankers Inc., Long Beach, Calif., sailed into the Port of Valdez, Alaska, to take on its first ANS crude cargo on July 11. Phillips has another four 125,000 dwt Millennium crude oil carriers under construction at the Northrop Grumman Litton Avondale shipyard at New Orleans. Cost of each vessel is pegged at $200 million.
Phillips said the Millennium-class tankers are the first to be built specifically for the Alaska trade in compliance with the Federal Oil Pollution Act of 1990. That legislation imposed stringent new oil spill prevention and cleanup response standards on the oil industry in the wake of the Exxon Valdez tanker oil spill in Prince William Sound off Alaska in March 1989. Among those standards is a mandate to phase out the use of single-hulled tankers in US waters.
The second Millennium-class tanker, the Polar Resolution, will be delivered in early 2002. Polar Tankers will add a new Millennium-class tanker to its fleet each year until 2005. The Polar Discovery will be delivered in 2003, and the Polar Adventure in 2004; all the new Polar tankers are named in honor of the ships captained by famed Pacific Ocean and Alaska explorer Capt. James Cook.
Polar Tankers is the successor company to ARCO Marine Inc., created in the wake of Phillips's acquisition of ARCO's Alaska assets following the latter's acquisition by the predecessor to BP PLC. Polar currently operates four other crude carriers, of 50,000-180,000 dwt in size.
Polar affiliate Phillips Alaska Inc. is the biggest producer of ANS crude. Phillips also holds a 23.7% interest in the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System, which carries crude oil from Prudhoe Bay, Kuparuk River, and other North Slope oil fields to the TAPS terminus at Valdez.
Tanker details
Phillips said the new Millennium-class tankers are the first US flag crude oil carriers that combined double hulls; independent engine rooms housing twin 15,000-bhp, slow-speed diesel engines; redundant propulsion and twin-steering systems; a separate, 3,000 hp bow thruster; and the latest-technology navigation systems.
Carrying capacity is a little over 1 million bbl of crude oil in 12 cargo tanks. The Millennium-class tankers are intended to carry ANS crude from Valdez to Puget Sound, Wash., but could also serve markets in California and Hawaii.
The vessels are designed to isolate all cargo, fuel, and lube oils from the ship's side by ballast tanks or void spaces. In addition, they are designed to meet future, more-stringent air emissions standards for engines and are painted with a tin-free, antifouling paint.
The Millennium-class vessels are 273 m long by 46 m wide by 26 m deep and can travel loaded at a speed of 16.5 knots.
