A LONGTIME VISITOR to Port Angeles Harbor received a new owner and a new name last week.
Now it has received a farewell as the tanker renamed Eagleford is never to return.
One of the first double-hull oil tankers to work the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System — or TAPS — route to Puget Sound and California refineries from Valdez, Alaska, the Eagleford is en route to the East Coast via the Strait of Magellan in South America.
The physical transformation of the Kodiak to the Eagleford (or Eagle Ford, depending on if you look at the aft or bow) occurred right before Port Angeles water-watchers’ eyes last week.
The Kodiak moored to Port of Port Angeles’ Terminal 1 early in the week.
By noon Friday, the crude-oil tanker had her new name and new stack colors.
Those symbolically made the sale of the ship complete: from SeaRiver Maritime, a subsidiary of Exxon Mobil, to Seabulk Tankers Inc., a Florida-based marine transportation company that owns a fleet of tankers for crude oil and petroleum products used in the domestic trades.
During the vessel’s stay in Port Angeles, the topside-repair company Vigor Industrial, which did the repainting, also replaced some of the vessel’s electronic equipment, including the radar.
Late last week, a couple of charter buses drove down to the dock and disembarked a new crew for the ship.
The then-standing crew boarded the buses, and the crew change was complete when the buses drove away.
The Eagleford was built in 1978 for Keystone Shipping Co. of Pennsylvania as the Tonsina.
The Tonsina became part of the Alaska Tanker Co. fleet in the 1990s for what is now BP LLC, then was sold to SeaRiver and renamed Kodiak in 2005.
A sister ship, Kenai, was built in 1979 and also sailed under the ATC colors until she was also sold to SeaRiver in 2005 and renamed Sierra.
The two double-haul tankers replaced SeaRiver’s older single-hull and double-bottom tankers that were sold or scrapped.
SeaRiver is currently having two $200 million tankers built by Aker Philadelphia Shipyard to replace Kodiak and Sierra, which is also for sale.
The new ships are Liberty Class crude-oil tankers. Each is 820 feet long with a carrying capacity of about 31 million gallons of crude oil.
According to an Aker news release, one of the ships, Liberty Bay, was delivered to SeaRiver on Nov. 6.
Westport contract?
Within the past few days, I read a news release from the Defense Security Cooperation Agency approving a possible foreign military sale to Pakistan of eight Global Response Cutters that will be built by Westport Shipyard.
The Defense Security Cooperation Agency is an agency within the Department of Defense that works with our allies and provides defense materiel, training and services to sovereign nations with similar values and interests to meet our common defense goals.
My understanding is that any contract Westport may be asked to negotiate will not come to fruition until 2016.
The news release indicated the value of the contract could reach $350 million.
Cutter on the hard
On Thursday, Platypus Marine Inc., the full-service shipyard, yacht-repair facility and steel-boat manufacturer in Port Angeles, hauled out Blue Shark, an 87-foot Coast Guard cutter that is based in Everett.
She will be in the Commander Building for the next few weeks for maintenance on the props and shafts as well as to sandblast, prime and paint the vessel.
In addition to a number of maintenance and upgrade items that are to be performed, the fuel tanks and graywater tanks will be emptied, cleaned and inspected, and their respective lines will be power-flushed and replaced as necessary, as will any related valves.
Last Monday, Platypus Marine hauled out Orient Express, a 65-foot Grand Harbor.
She went back in the water Friday afternoon after having her bottom scrubbed clean and a new coat of paint applied.
Songs of the sea
Sea chanteys will be the order of the day at Wooden Boat Wednesday this Wednesday at the Northwest Maritime Center and Wooden Boat Foundation in Port Townsend.
Those attending will be entertained by Mike “Tug” Buse, Chris Gilbert, Jay Hagar, Mike and Val James, Mark Olson and Jim Scarantino.
No doubt, once the day’s entertainment is through, this group of singers will have those attending the event believing they were entertained by a group of authentic tall-ship sailors.
Wooden Boat Wednesday is a free event that is held upstairs in the Northwest Maritime Center, 431 Water St. It promptly starts at noon and typically lasts 90 minutes.
For more information, phone 360-385-3628, ext. 104, or email info@nwmaritime.org.
Harbor filler-up
Tesoro Petroleum, which fuels the ships anchored in Port Angeles Harbor, bunkered Eagleford prior to her departure for the East Coast via the Strait of Magellan.
Today, Tesoro is scheduled to bunker Cygnus, a 600-foot petroleum-products carrier that is flagged in Hong Kong.
The vessel is making her way to Port Angeles from Manzanillo, Mexico.
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David G. Sellars is a Port Angeles resident and former Navy boatswain’s mate who enjoys boats and strolling the area’s waterfronts. Items and questions involving boating, port activities and the North Olympic Peninsula waterfronts are always welcome. Email dgsellars@hotmail.com or phone him at 360-808-3202.
His column, On the Waterfront, appears Sundays.
