Tesoro Alaska Company took a major step to improve oil spill prevention in Cook Inlet recently when it contracted with Crowley Maritime Corporation for the construction a new tractor tug, the first permanent vessel of its kind.  Cook Inlet RCAC received news from Captain Jack Jensen of Tesoro Alaska that the new assist tug, the M/V Vigilant, arrived in Homer on March 25, 2008.  While in Homer, a few minor adjustments will be made to the vessel before it is permanently stationed in Nikiski.

Cook Inlet RCAC has long advocated for a full-time tug to serve in Nikiski as an added precaution to winter-time berthing and un-berthing operations of crude oil tankers. Currently, however, US Coast Guard and State regulations do not require the presence of an assist tug at the Nikiski dock. 

"Tesoro should be applauded for their commitment to navigational safety by bringing this tug into Cook Inlet," said Executive Director Michael Munger. “It’s a rare but welcomed occurrence for a corporation to go above and beyond regulatory compliance."

The M/V Protector, the tug currently stationed in Nikiski, was brought into service in January 2007 when heavy ice conditions in the Inlet threatened tanker moorings.  The 6,700 horsepower Vigilant will replace the 5,500 horsepower Protector and will be operated for Tesoro by Crowley Maritime Corporation.

With steel plate ice belting above and below the water line, under-deck heaters, and immersion heaters for ballast tanks, the Vigilant will be even better equipped than the Protector to operate in the harsh ice-laden winter waters of Cook Inlet. The Vigilant is equipped with atwin "Z-Drive" system—a propulsion system that has allowed tugs to ef­fectively operate in icy Scandinavian waters and in the extreme ice and tide conditions at the Port of Anchorage.

A small delay in early November occurred when the ship yard responsible for fabricating the new tug Vigilant, Nichols Brothers Boat Builders, Inc. of Langley, Washington, shut their doors and filed for bankruptcy. At that time, Crowley indicated that the Vigilant was ninety-percent complete and the christening goal, originally slated for early January 2008, was going to be delayed by two months and possibly longer.  The construction later resumed in early December.

According to a Crowley press release, Crowley took delivery of the Vigilant, which is being chartered from BayDelta Maritime, Inc., on February 27, 2008.  The vessel departed Washington on March 17, 2008 and made its nine-day maiden voyage to Alaska.

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