What Is a Vessel of Opportunity—and Why Does Alaska Need Them?
When an oil spill occurs in Alaska, response organizations need access to the right people, equipment, and vessels.
That can be challenging in a state with vast distances between communities and ports, remote operating areas, and constantly changing weather and marine conditions.
One way the Alaska Chadux Network (ACN) expands its response capability is through its Vessel of Opportunity (VOO) Program.
VOOs are vessels that can be made available to support ACN’s on-water response operations, providing an important resource when additional vessels and trained crews are needed.
What Is a Vessel of Opportunity?
A Vessel of Opportunity is a vessel whose owner has an agreement with ACN to make the vessel available for oil spill response activities.
These agreements are established before an incident occurs, helping simplify the mobilization process when response resources are needed.
As of January 2023, ACN had retainers with more than 55 Vessels of Opportunity in numerous Alaska port cities, including Kodiak, King Cove, Dutch Harbor, Valdez, Nome, Seward, Homer, Whittier, and Cordova.
The geographic distribution of these vessels helps ACN build response capability across multiple regions of Alaska.
Why Does Alaska Need VOOs?
Alaska’s geography creates unique challenges for oil spill response.
Response resources may need to travel significant distances to reach an incident. A vessel already located in or near a response area can provide an additional option for getting resources on the water.
ACN’s VOO Program is designed to provide reliable and timely access to response vessels while supporting safe, effective, cost-effective, and regulatory-compliant response activities.
But having access to a vessel is only part of the equation.
The vessel and its crew need to be prepared to work within an organized response.
Training Comes Before Response
Each year, ACN conducts VOO training and exercises so vessel crews can become familiar with ACN response equipment, recovery tactics, and safety requirements.
ACN also tracks the status of program vessels and provides appropriate safety and operational training for vessel owners and their crews.
This preparation matters because VOO crews have a specific role during a response.
ACN personnel deploy and operate ACN response equipment. Vessel operators and crew are responsible for operating their vessel unless they have received the appropriate training.
That distinction helps establish clear responsibilities and supports safe operations during an incident.
What Can Vessels of Opportunity Do?
VOOs can support several types of on-water response activities, depending on the vessel, crew, equipment, and specific needs of the incident.
Containment and booming
VOOs can support containment, diversion, and exclusion booming operations.
This can involve deploying, anchoring, and maintaining boom.
Smaller vessels or vessels with limited deck space may be used for certain boom operations, while skiffs launched from larger vessels can provide access to shallow water or close-quarters areas.
On-Water Oil Recovery
VOOs can also support marine oil recovery operations.
Depending on the equipment and response strategy, tactics may involve U- or J-booming, ACN’s boom arm system, or an Ocean or Harbor Buster to concentrate oil for recovery.
A VOO may carry and deploy a recovery system that includes a skimmer, containment boom, and temporary storage. Multiple vessels may also work together to concentrate spilled oil for recovery.
Temporary storage can be provided through bladders, tanks, or barges.
Supporting Other Response Activities
VOOs aren’t limited to oil recovery.
They can also support related activities, such as providing a work platform for wildlife capture and rehabilitation personnel or transporting supplies and waste products.
Larger vessels capable of carrying and storing equipment can provide additional logistical support. These vessels may have extended range and can provide fuel and water to smaller response vessels.
The specific role of each vessel depends on its capabilities and the operational requirements of the incident.
Safety Comes First
Oil spill response can involve challenging working conditions, which is why safety is a primary objective during every response.
ACN works to support safe operations through several measures.
Vessel operators and crews receive training appropriate to their role. Vessels are pre-inspected before operations, and ACN maintains communications and uses Automatic Identification System (AIS) information to track vessels during a response.
Local knowledge is also an important part of safe operations.
Vessel operators understand the waters where they work and can provide valuable information to ACN response personnel when determining what operations can be safely conducted under the conditions of a particular day.
That local knowledge, combined with ACN’s response expertise, helps inform operational decisions.
Preparing Vessels Before They Are Needed
VOOs participating in the ACN program go through a vetting process and are pre-contracted to simplify mobilization if an incident occurs.
However, participation in the program does not obligate a vessel to respond if ACN requests its services.
Because availability can change, ACN works to maintain redundancy within each region. The program’s goal is to maintain a 2-to-1 redundancy in the number of vessels in each region to improve the probability of being able to hire a vessel on short notice.
That approach recognizes an important reality of emergency preparedness: having a resource identified doesn’t necessarily mean it will be available when an incident occurs.
Planning for alternatives is part of being prepared.
Exercises Turn Planning Into Practice
Training and exercises give ACN and VOO crews an opportunity to practice working together before an actual emergency.
During the spring, ACN responders and crews from two VOO vessels conducted an exercise in Prince William Sound.
Exercises provide an opportunity to practice response procedures, become familiar with equipment and tactics, and strengthen coordination between vessel crews and ACN response personnel.
They are also part of ACN’s broader investment in operational readiness.
Maintaining a response organization requires continual investment in certifications, facilities, equipment, and people. That preparation helps ensure response capability remains ready, reliable, and available throughout Alaska.
Building a Stronger Response Network
A VOO is more than a vessel that can be called during an emergency.
The VOO Program is a network of vessel owners, trained crews, response personnel, equipment, procedures, and relationships developed before an incident occurs.
For Alaska, that network can provide valuable flexibility.
By establishing agreements with vessel owners in advance, maintaining vessel information, providing training, conducting exercises, and planning for redundancy, ACN works to strengthen the resources available for on-water response.
Preparedness is about having options when they are needed most.
Vessels of Opportunity are one important part of that preparedness network.
Learn more about Chadux Network and how we support oil spill preparedness and response across Alaska.
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