Remote mobilization in Alaska: hybrid transportation and logistics.
Author | Kalytiak, Tracy |
Position | TRANSPORTATION |
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At about noon on Dec. 6, 2004, the Selendang Ayu was carrying a load of 60,000 tons of soybeans, 440,000 gallons of bunker fuel and 18,000 gallons of diesel oil from Seattle to Xiamen, China, when the captain ordered the main engine stopped so a glitch with a cylinder could be examined.
The 738-foot Malaysian freighter with a crew of 26 had recently passed through Unimak Pass, into the Bering Sea, 120 nautical miles from Dutch Harbor.
That decision to stop the engine seemed insignificant, routine, but swelled into a matter of huge consequence when it wouldn't restart.
Two days later, the stalled ship had drifted onto the north shore of Unalaska Island, despite efforts to anchor and tow it. Six of its crew were dead, killed after a massive wave inundated the engine of a rescue helicopter, forcing it to crash into the churning dark sea. Rocks tore the Selendang Ayu in half, spilling 360,000 gallons of its fuel cargo into the water and touching off an 18-month cleanup.
Containing the aftermath of catastrophes like the Selendang Ayu wreck and spill is just one of the many facets of what remote-mobilization companies do in Alaska.
LOGISTICAL EXPERTISE
Smaller companies specialize in moving people and equipment to remote construction, mining and drilling sites. Others, like Ron Hyde's Anchoragebased PRL Logistics Inc., formerly known as Pacific Rim Logistics, can do that as well as take up enormous challenges like the Selendang Ayu spill, which it did seven years ago.
"Logistics has always been a passion," said Hyde, who launched PRL in 2002. "I grew up in the Bush, Goodnews Bay, so I was always on the receiving end of logistics."
Hyde worked for Jacobs Engineering Group for 10 years.
"While I really enjoyed my career at Jacobs, logistics wasn't the core competency, core mission, of that company. It's an important element of what they do, but wasn't their primary focus. PRL enabled me to refine logistical tools, planning, on ways to be able to move quickly and support very complex projects."
PRL acts as logistical support contractor for Gallagher Marine Systems as well as a first responder for the State of Alaska when a crisis like the Selendang Ayu wreck and spill occurs. Hyde received a call at three in the morning after the ship started drifting toward the island.
"We worked as initial incident commander and our company was used to provide logistical procurement of helicopters, fuel, passenger jets, housing in Unalaska and Dutch Harbor, organize daily flights, dispatch for passenger transport," Hyde said. "Dutch Harbor was the...
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