Shipboard safety and environmental performance during the past several years appear to have become synonymous with the SIU-contracted Alaska Tanker Company (ATC).Time and again since 2001, the Beaverton, Ore.-based business has added one feat after another to its unparalleled inventory of accident/incident-free accomplishments. ATC last month augmented its list of triumphs by adding yet another conquest: the completion of 11 million man-hours without a lost time injury (LTI). This latest signpost covers a five year-period, accounts for all operations throughout the company’s SIU-crewed fleet and recognizes ATC’s achieving the highest levels of safety and environmental performance while transporting Alaska North Slope crude oil from Valdez, Alaska to refineries in Washington State, California and Hawaii.
“As far as I can tell, no other tanker company in the world currently matches, or has ever matched this record,” said ATC President and CEO Anil Mathur. “And with a restricted work injury rate of zero and a total recordable injury rate of 0.4, ATC’s personal safety record is amongst the best in any industrial setting in the world.”
Mathur credited the SIU for substantially contributing to the company’s past as well as present outstanding safety record. “Our relationship with the Seafarers International Union has been crucial to our joint success,” he said earlier this year when the company reached the 10 million man-hour plateau without a LTI. “The SIU leadership has an enlightened and long-term view of what is best for their membership. This view matches our view in ATC.
“We both see safety as deeply personal and not about statistics,” he continued. “Safety is about taking care of ourselves every day, so we can live full lives and earn a good living for our loved ones. Our Seafarers have responded with maturity and responsibility to the work environment we have jointly created,” Mathur said.
“ATC’s latest milestone is a great credit to all concerned,” said SIU Executive Vice President Augie Tellez, who pointed out that many of the company’s mariners have undergone safety training at the SIU-affiliated Paul Hall Center in Piney Point, Md.
He added, “Particularly where the school is concerned, I would invite other SIU-contracted companies to follow Alaska Tanker’s lead and take advantage of the world-class safety training available in Piney Point. The results speak for themselves.”
ATC began operations in April 1999. The company operates five Seafarers-crewed vessels including the four new Alaska Class tankers built in San Diego: the Alaskan Legend, Alaskan Frontier, Alaskan Explorer and Alaskan Navigator, along with the Prince William Sound.
Last year, the Alaska State Legislature honored ATC for its consistently outstanding record, presenting a declaration commending the company for its safety-related efforts and achievements. The declaration noted that since 2002 (and as of last summer, when it was presented), ATC ships safely carried 43.6 billion gallons of crude oil with just 27.2 gallons of hydraulic oil escaping to the sea (as a consequence of storm damage).
The United States Coast Guard recognized ATC’s outstanding performance in 2004 when they presented them with their premier national honor, the Benkert “Osprey Award,” recognizing excellence in marine environmental protection. In recent years, Alaska Tanker has also won several major awards for excellence in marine safety and environmental stewardship from Washington State and the Pacific States/British Columbia Oil Spill Task Force.
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