Congress authorized the current escort rules in 1990 as part of the reforms written after the Exxon Valdez oil spill in the Sound a year earlier. The Exxon Valdez had just a single hull. Congress required that single-hull tankers get the escort tugs. Another reform was to retire all the single-hull tankers over time and replace them with safer double-hull ships.
The last single-hull tanker will be retired from service in 2012. Almost all Alaska oil is shipped through the Sound now on double-hulled tankers, and the practice has been to escort them out of Valdez.
Alaska Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Mark Begich on Thursday introduced legislation that would require the loaded double-hull tankers to be escorted, making the current practice federal law.
"While I recognize that double-hulled tankers are an improvement over single hulls, they will not, by themselves, prevent oil spills," said Murkowski, a Republican.
"The dual escort coverage of tankers operating in Prince William Sound has helped ensure we have the best oil transportation system in the world," said Begich, a Democrat. "The tractor tugs have proved their usefulness several times when tankers needed assistance."
Rep. Don Young is working on a House version of the proposal, the delegation said.
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