Oil company BP PLC has returned a fleet of double-hull tankers to service after two of the ships lost their anchors last month in the Gulf of Alaska, a company spokesman said Jan. 29.
The Alaskan Navigator and the Alaskan Frontier each have two new anchors. The other two ships, the Alaskan Legend and the Alaskan Explorer, each got one temporary replacement anchor, said BP spokesman Daren Beaudo.
Each ship is scheduled to get two new permanent replacement anchors, Beaudo said.
The fleet was held for repairs after the Navigator and Frontier each lost one of their two giant bow-mounted anchors while hauling North Slope crude oil through the gulf.
A preliminary investigation found the China-made anchors might not have been properly tempered to strengthen the metal, Beaudo said.
The loss of the anchors was a disappointment to BP and tanker operator Alaska Tanker Co. of Beaverton, Ore., because the ships are all relatively new, Beaudo said.
A San Diego shipyard built the 941-foot tankers for about $250 million each, with the first of them going into service in the summer of 2004.
Alaska Tanker Co., the U.S. Coast Guard and the Washington state Department of Ecology are still investigating the anchor defects, according to a Coast Guard statement.
