Alaska Maritime Prevention & Response Network receives prestigious award for keeping the seas safe
Anchorage-based Alaska Maritime Prevention & Response Network (The Network) is an innovative winner in the 2016 Lloyd’s List Maritime Services Award for its work with the Alternative Planning Criteria (APC) for monitoring and providing enhanced oil spill response capability for seagoing vessels in Western Alaskan waters.
“This prestigious award is a truly significant recognition within the global maritime community of the remarkable program we have collectively established,” said Buddy Custard, President and CEO of the Network. “It is a result of a team of Alaskans that believes that prevention is preferred over response in protecting the marine environment. We are proud to protect the crews and cargo of ocean going vessels that come through our vast Alaskan waters.”
The Network’s risk reduction measures are the heart of the APC program and serve as the foundation of USCG approval. In 2015, The Network’s 24-hr monitoring center tracked over 8,900 vessels transiting and/or operating in the region and more than 5,800 of these vessel transits being participants in the Network’s APC programs. The Network’s routing measures were the precursor and foundation to the Areas to be Avoided adopted by the International Maritime Organization for the Aleutian archipelago. The harsh weather, remote distances and lack of infrastructure in Western Alaska makes spill response very difficult so implementing risk reduction measures is a key component of the Network’s compliance program.
The Lloyd’s List are the only awards to cover the North American maritime industry. Covering the maritime industry since the 1700’s, the Lloyds List reports weekly shipping news, and now honors key achievements of the international maritime industry. Besides the Safer Cleaner Seas Award, the Lloyds list recognizes and celebrates Ship Operator of the Year, Maritime Services, Training and Port Operator. For more information on the awards and to see the full list of winners visit http://lloydslistawards-northamerica.com.
The Network is a non-profit maritime organization headquartered in Anchorage, Alaska. The Network monitors risk reduction routing measures and provides enhanced oil spill response
capability for participating vessels throughout the Aleutians, Western Alaska and the Arctic waters off Alaska.
The Network’s success is based on strategic relationships that ensure Oil Spill Removal Organization (OSRO) availability with resources pre-stage in seventeen strategic response hubs throughout Western Alaska. In 2015, the Network funded one of the largest build outs of spill response resources in Western Alaska in nearly 20 years.
Over the past two years the Network has designed and implemented the most cost-effective and resource capable alternative spill response and prevention system that can meet federal environmental protection regulations in an area covering 1.5 million square miles. The Network’s continued success is based on the maritime industry’s commitment to advance environmentally safe best practices throughout remote regions of Western Alaska.