Credit Rep. Don Young for helping persuade his colleagues to make sure all oil tankers in Prince William Sound will keep sailing with two escort tugs. Last month, thanks to Young's efforts, the House Coast Guard authorization bill included a requirement for two-tug escorts even on double-hulled tankers. Current law requires the dual escort only for single-hulled tankers, although the more modern double-hulled ships also get the dual escort now as a matter of course. That course needs to be law, no matter how many hulls the tanker has.
Thanks to lessons learned from the Exxon Valdez disaster, oil-tanker traffic in Prince William Sound is now the safest in the world. The double-tug escort is one of the reasons.
The tugs are nimble, powerful vessels -- specifically designed for tanker duty in the Sound -- that can turn a tanker while it's moving and provide first response to an oil spill. They help provide a close, unblinking watch for vessels already fortified against failure with double hulls and double engines. As Young pointed out, the tugs provide one of the key elements of safe transportation: redundancy. If one system fails, there's a remedy at hand.
Dual-escort tugs also are a powerful counter to complacency. The Exxon Valdez oil spill of 1989 is 20 years old. Some memories are still painful and fresh, but 20 years is more than enough time to take the edge off vigilance.
Alaskans have paid the price for that mistake once -- and are still paying it. You can still find spilled oil just beneath the surface of some beaches in the Sound. The lesson is clear: Keep the oil out of the water. Prevention is everything.
And that's where the dual-tug escort comes in.
Hulls can still fail. Humans will still err. The dual tugs are a critical last line of defense against disaster.
Alaskans are united in maintaining the two-tug system even when the entire tanker fleet is double-hulled.
In April, the Alaska Legislature voted unanimously for a resolution supporting the federal two-tug requirement. In May, Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Mark Begich joined to sponsor the requirement in the U.S. Senate. The Prince William Sound Regional Citizens Advisory Council has consistently pushed the idea. Young has been an effective supporter on the House side.
Oil shippers cover the costs of the two-tug system -- but all Alaskans help pay part of the bill. The tugs are considered part of the cost of transporting the oil. All transportation charges are deducted before the state calculates how much tax and royalty revenue it collects from oil. In the 1990s, the oil shippers' purchase of two tractor tugs for $20 million cost Alaska about $6 million in lost revenue. Oil shippers have bought five in all.
That cost-sharing is fair -- and as any witness to the 1989 oil spill and its aftermath can tell us, it's well worth the price.
BOTTOM LINE: Two-tug escort system helps keeps shipping safe in Sound -- and oil out of the water.