Photo courtesy of Robert Johnson
The liquefied natural gas tanker Catalunya Spirit pulls into Boston Harbor, where the Distrigas LNG terminal has operated since 1971. Columbia River Bar Pilot Capt. Robert Johnson snapped this photo from his perch on the tanker during an educational trip with a Columbia River pilot and tugboat operator. The tanker passed underneath the bridge on the horizon with just 11 feet of clearance.
Photo courtesy of Robert Johnson
With downtown Boston in the distance and an airplane taking off not far away, the liquefied natural gas tanker Catalunya Spirit makes its way toward an LNG receiving terminal located beside a scrap yard in Boston Harbor. Preparing for the possibility of LNG on the Columbia River, three pilots who work on the river traveled to Boston to learn more about navigating LNG tankers.
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Clicking through pictures on his computer screen, Columbia
River Bar Pilot Capt. Robert Johnson detailed his ride on a liquefied natural
gas tanker as it entered Boston Harbor, where the Distrigas LNG terminal
has been operating since 1971.
"This is the Catalunya Spirit," he said. "She's 933
feet long with a 140-foot beam and 130,000 cubic meters of storage -
very similar to what we'd be getting here. We passed some small boats.
They were not allowed to get too close but they did go by. We went by
this tug and barge - and that's downtown Boston."
Johnson was one of three pilots who traveled from Oregon to Boston
in October to gain some firsthand knowledge of navigating an LNG tanker
through a busy waterway. He was joined by Columbia River Pilot Capt.
Paul Amos and Foss Maritime tugboat Capt. Mike Walker.
Together, the three men represent the piloting expertise that would
be needed to take an LNG ship across the Columbia River Bar and 38 miles
upriver to the proposed Bradwood Landing LNG receiving terminal if the
project is approved.
The pilots have been doing their homework on LNG, collecting data on
the various models of LNG tankers, researching tools that would make
for the safest possible passage up the river, participating in computerized
training sessions that simulate the piloting experience, and visiting
facilities on the East Coast.
During the trip to Boston, Johnson said it became clear to him that
LNG wouldn't "shut the river down," as some in the region
had feared. He offered dozens of pictures as proof of just how "routine" LNG
transits are in bustling Boston Harbor.
"There were all these boats there, and we just steamed on through," he
said. "There were some that were sailing. There was a regatta going
on at one point. There were passenger ships; we went right by them.
Then there's the airplane going by. We went under a bridge. ... We had
11 feet of clearance, and it didn't stop traffic."
There are navigational differences between Boston Harbor and the Columbia
River, said Johnson. The width of the channel and the degree of difficulty
in crossing the Columbia River bar pose unique challenges here, he said.
Pilots’ expertise needed
The pilots are among the first people LNG development
companies consult on river traffic and navigation issues, said Johnson,
and they have shared concerns about safety and the effects on existing
river commerce. While LNG offers an opportunity for increased income
to the Columbia River Pilots Association, it also poses new hazards
and significant changes to the pilots' operations.
The recently released U.S. Coast Guard Waterway Suitability
Report for Northern Star Natural Gas Co.'s Bradwood Landing project
has drawn
attention to the changes that would be needed for the
Columbia River to accommodate LNG tankers. The potential safety hazards
involved in
transporting LNG trigger an extensive review of navigation
security before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission considers approving
a new terminal.
Five companies are looking to site LNG terminals in Oregon. Four proposals
are on the Columbia River, and a fifth is at Coos Bay. The Bradwood
Landing project, located 20 miles east of Astoria, is the farthest along
in the federal approval process. LNG terminals receive supercooled natural
gas liquid and turn it back to a vapor for pipeline distribution.
Bar and river pilots are among the key players that will draw up the
Coast Guard's required Transit Management Plan, a detailed system of
organizing all traffic on the river to make way for 125 LNG tankers
expected each year at the Bradwood Landing facility. The pilots agree
the LNG tankers aren't that different in size from the container ships
they maneuver through the river on a regular basis, but the security
measures required add some complications.
Amos, who would be among the river pilots taking LNG tankers from the
bar to the Bradwood Landing facility at river mile 38, said he suggested
a priority system for deciding which ships were allowed to enter the
river first. Some ships have deeper drafts than others and must cross
the bar at high tide.
"My idea is ships that have a narrow window for high
tide - grain ships, container ships - they get the first shot at it," he
said. "The
second priority should be ships on a schedule, regardless
of draft. Third would be the LNG tankers."
Nailing down all the details before the ships set sail is an essential
step to preparing the river for LNG, he said.
"I've told the companies they need to be flexible in their ability
to accommodate arrivals and departures," said Amos. "My primary
concern is maintaining the flow of traffic so existing businesses aren't
put out, and so they don't incur any additional expense."
Tugs ensure control
Walker said he has piloted Foss Maritime tugboats as
they were escorting oil tankers about the size of LNG tankers, and has
the experience to pilot the LNG escort tugs required by the Coast Guard
WSR. However, a formal request for proposal will determine which company
provides the escort piloting service. He is learning what he can about
LNG in case Foss Maritime is hired.
"The people who would operate our tugs are local
captains with many years of experience," he said. "It's absolutely
imperative we do the due diligence involved with LNG transits. If this
comes about,
it has to be done safely."
Working on Bradwood Landing's LNG tankers as they made
their way up and back down the river would expand Foss' business, but
there would
be extra planning and training involved in the job. Tug
boat pilots have participated in simulator training with river and bar
pilots to
coordinate navigation efforts among the different vessels.
The escort tugs would be essential to ensuring control
over the tankers as soon as they make it across the bar, said Walker.
At least one of
the tugs would be tethered to the ship; in rough conditions,
there could be two tied on.
"Should something go wrong, you'd already have hold of the ship
and be able to do something to correct the problem," he said. "We
do this all the time for tankers. They take the ship and effectively
slow it down or turn it if there was a problem - the tugs are designed
to do that."
Specific requests granted
Johnson said the pilots specifically asked for two bar
pilots and two river pilots to ride on each tanker to make sure the
conning pilot, the one at the helm, could focus exclusively on navigation.
The second pilot would communicate with the Coast Guard officials and
handle security issues - at least for the first six months the tankers
are on the river.
Another request the pilots made was for a Dynamic Under Keel Clearance
System, a sophisticated modeling tool that tells pilots exactly how
much space lies between the hull of the ship and the bottom of the river.
"This is another tool that will make us more accurate
in our assessment of safety and our risk management," he said. "The
most important thing is the safety. We will be safer in maneuvering
all ships that
get closer to the bottom."
The basic risks of navigating LNG tankers are the same as they are
in other ships, said Johnson. Collisions and grounding are the two biggest
concerns. When LNG vaporizes, it can catch fire and produce a lot of
heat, which heightens the risk associated with any loss of control.
Northern Star will be responsible for sharing the cost of developing
the Under Keel Clearance System, which Johnson said will be a benefit
to the entire river.
"It could have a huge amount of impact. The economic benefit is
that we should be able to allow all ships to load deeper," he said.
That would make the Columbia River more attractive to the shipping industry. "We
have been onto this for years now, and this is a way we'd be able to
get it for the benefit of everybody."
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