NEWS & UPDATES
March 27, 2018 - Information Circular 2018-01: 2017 Annual Report & William M. Benkert Award
The Alaska Maritime Prevention & Response Network [Network] is pleased to release its 2017 Annual Report and announce the recipient for their prestigious Biennial Rear Admiral William M. Benkert Marine Environmental Protection Award for Excellence. The Network received Honorable Mention for its commitment to the environment. The biennial award recognizes organizations for outstanding achievement in all aspects of marine environmental protection
07/24/2017 - Information Cirular 2017-03: Nontank Vessel Fee Reduction
Nontank Vessel Fee Reduction The Alaska Maritime Prevention & Response Network’s [Network] Board of Directors recently adopted to reduce fees by 3 percent for nontank vessels that participate in the Network’s Coast Guard approved Alternative Planning Criteria (APC) programs. The updated nontank vessel fees take effect on August 1, 2017. Please note that the Tank vessel fee will remain at $7,125.
07/11/2017 - Information Circular 2017 – 02
• Loyalty Discount Program • ASRC-Energy Services and Network Partnership • Teaming Agreements with Salvage & Marine Firefighter Providers • Fishing Vessel Miss Destinee Oil Spill Prevention & Salvage Operation • Network Capability Exercise • Congressional Testimony • Meet The Network
04/17/2017 - 2016 Annual Report Now Available
The Alaska Maritime Prevention & Response Network is pleased to release its 2016 Annual Report
06/15/2016 - 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…
06/15/2016 - Enrollment Fee Reduction
The Alaska Maritime Prevention & Response Network’s [Network] Board of Directors, made up of industry representatives, recently adopted reduced fees for non-tank vessels that participate in the Network’s Coast Guard approved Alternative Planning Criteria (APC) programs.
05/13/2016 - Specialized Oil Spill Response Vessel Homeported in Kodiak
Originally published on KMXT 100.1 Kodiak By Kayla Desroches May 11, 2016 An oil spill response vessel called the Sea Strike is now homeported in Kodiak, gearing up to answer the need for oil spill cleanup in the Central Gulf of Alaska and Western Alaska. One of the groups behind the project says it’ll be an improvement over existing methods of containing spills. The Anchorage-based nonprofit – called the Alaska Maritime Prevention Response Network – offers oil spill response support to vessels enrolled in its program and reports it has retained the Sea Strike on a one-year contract to start with. Managing director Jim Butler says the Network works with an oil-spill removal organization called Alaska Chadux, which runs a vessel of opportunity program. The program employs the services of fishermen and other locals in oil spill responses. Butler says the Sea Strike is more specialized. “What the Sea Strike represents is the next sort of evolution,…
02/8/2016 - How Shell’s Arctic Pullout Better Prepares Alaska for Oil Spills
Originally published in Alaska Dispatch News By Annie Zak February 6, 2016 Shell may have pulled out of the Arctic, but some of its leftover equipment will better prepare the state for oil spills. Three Alaska organizations are working together to place spill response equipment Shell contracted during its Arctic offshore oil exploration in response hubs around Western Alaska and Prince William Sound. Two nonprofits — the Alaska Maritime Prevention and Response Network and oil spill removal organization Alaska Chadux Corp. — along with UIC Arctic Response Services are looking at 14 Chadux-operated equipment hubs around the state to determine where the extra resources will go. That equipment includes skimmers, booms to contain oil spills, minibarges for temporary oil storage capacity and small boats, which used to be under contract for use by Shell from ARS. Buddy Custard, president and CEO of the maritime response network, said the three main hubs the organizations are looking at are Kodiak, Unalaska and Adak,…
12/30/2015 - IMO adopted areas to be avoided along Aleutian Islands
The IMO Maritime Safety Committee per IMO SN.1/Circ.331 adopted five ‘Areas to Be Avoided’ (ATBA) in the region of the Aleutian Island Archipelago in order to reduce the risk of a marine casualty and resulting pollution and damage to the environment. These new ATBAs will come into effect on January 1, 2016. The five ATBAs apply to vessels solely in transit through the Bering Sea and North Pacific Ocean and extends 50 nautical miles from the shoreline of the islands. The 50 nautical mile buffer zone is designed to allow for the repair of, or time to launch an emergency response effort to any marine casualty before it runs aground and damages the fragile ecosystem. The establishment of the ATBA adds minimal distance to a voyage. The Alaska Maritime Prevention & Response Network (Network) operating procedures are predominately aligned with the adopted ATBAs with the exception of transits west of Attu Island. The Network’s operating procedures currently…
11/4/2015 - The Network updates stakeholders on 2015 accomplishments and current issues
The purpose of the presentation was to provide an overview of the Network Alternative Planning Criteria (APC) program status, 2015 accomplishments, and to discuss Alaska-specific APC issues. The briefing provided an opportunity to affirm lines of communications with those who have mutual clients in the Network APC. For more information, please contact the Network.
09/13/2015 - Network’s Alternative Planning Criteria (APC) extended until December 2017
On September 1st, 2015, the U.S. Coast Guard extended the Network’s APC for both tank and nontank vessels through December 31, 2017. The Network’s APC covers tank vessels carrying OPA-90 regulated cargoes throughout the Captain of the Port Zone Western Alaska (except Cook Inlet) and nontank vessels carrying OPA-90 regulated oils as fuel for main propulsion or as a secondary cargo in all subareas in the Captain of the Port Zone for Western Alaska and Prince William Sound. The Network’s nontank APC is the only APC approved by the U.S. Coast Guard for all Western Alaska and Prince William Sound subareas. With this reapproval, enrollment in the Network APC will continue to provide the greatest compliance flexibility for nontank vessels sailing anywhere in Western Alaska, including the great circle route along the Aleutians Islands and the Prince William Sound COTP geographic specific area. For questions regarding coverage and enrollment options with the Network, please contact Jim Butler, Managing Director…