LONE STAR HARBOR SAFETY COMMITTEE

Minutes of the May 8, 2015 Meeting

On Friday, May 8, 2015 at 9:00 AM, members of the Lone Star Harbor Safety Committee (LSHSC) gathered for the Committee’s thirteenth meeting. The meeting was held at the Sector Houston/Galveston Ellington Field office, 13411 Hillard St., Houston, TX 77034. The published agenda is included: enclosure (1).

CALL TO ORDER – 9:19 A.M.

Meeting start time was delayed to allow more members to arrive at the meeting. Committee Chair, Capt. John Peterlin called the meeting to order. Executive Secretary, Kelly Teichman was not in attendance.Laci Theriot, standing in for Kelly Teichman, performed the Roll Call. 15Members of the Committee were present, but not all were voting members; a satisfactory Quorum was not established at roll call.

OPENING REMARKS BY COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN

Committee Chair, Capt. John Peterlin, welcomed the CommitteeMembers and the participants. The members and attendees briefly introduced themselves. At the request of the Chairman, Lieutenant Commander Navin Griffin (USCG) provided a Safety Briefing for the Committee on the location of the restrooms, coffee, and exits. The Chair then made opening remarks and mentioned that a lot of events had occurred since the last meeting in February, particularly the recent ship channel collision in Upper Galveston Bayin March.

CAPTAIN OF THE PORT OVERVIEW AND WELCOMING REMARKS

CAPTBrian Penoyer (USCG) welcomed and thanked everyone for attending as the location is a bit far of a commute for some. He asked for some feedback regarding the venue.

The big picture is that Houston has become the focus of national attention regarding safety, navigation, and anything that this region comes up with regarding shipping and safety will be the national standard. We have had incidents in the past that have gained national exposure, but the Lone Star Harbor Safety Committee has never been more relevant or more needed. Amazing things happen in the Lone Star subcommittees. We will continue to have low days and high days in regards to vessel transit.

He also mentioned that we are on an uptick with Galveston Bay in regards to traffic and numbers- we are not at historic highs. We have had higher numbers of deep-draft ships, but we may be approaching record numbers of tugs and barges. The public expectation of maritime transportation safety is becoming increasingly high. Software has the potential to changetraffic management. We have to continue to take this platform (LSHSC)seriously and commit to the working issues. It is not a secret that what we do here in the U.S., informs what happens across the rest of the international maritime industry. The spotlight is on us. Capt. Penoyer thanked the committee for their time and effort.

APPROVAL OF MINUTES

The Minutes of the Quarterly Meeting of the Lone Star Harbor Safety Committee held on February 6, 2015 were distributed to the members of the Committee and also sent electronically in advance of the meeting. Enclosures will be available on the LSHSC Website. Minutes were voted upon later in the meetingafter additional Voting Members of the Committee arrivedfor the meeting and a quorum was established. Motion to approve the Minutes was made by James Prazak. Capt. Christos Sotirelis seconded the motion, which was approved unanimously.

BRIEF REGARDING MORGAN’S POINT INCIDENT

CAPT Penoyer, USCG mentioned that pictures of the Carla Maersk-Conti Peridotincident are available in one of theGreater Houston Port Bureau newsletters. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is leading the investigation into the collision. In the case, the Coast Guard is not conducting their ownindependent investigation. The incident response went really well- the total response took 21 days. CAPT Penoyer mentioned that the NTSB looks at things from a different perspective than the U.S. Coast Guard, who have constrained by both cost-benefit analysis and by implementation constraints. The NTSB’s main focus is safety without regard to current implementation capability or net societal cost. They provide an unconstrained look at how to improve safety, a valuable complement to the Coast Guard’s perspective. The NTSB is simultaneously initiating a nation-wide vessel traffic service (VTS) study.

With regard to the incident itself, thecollision collapsed the ballast tanks- it “pancaked” them flat, but only the number four cargo tank was holed, fortunately. Methyl tertiary-butyl ether (MTBE) leaked into the channel- which is a moderately toxic product with primary short term health effects. MTBE is, however, highly volatile and highly flammable.The CARLA MAERSK crew deserves praise as they conducted emergency lightering in record speed- drawing contaminated salt water and MTBE from the damaged tanks and placing it in other undamaged ballast tanks to protect the environment. The CARLA MAERSK has inerted the cargo tanks (which CAPT Penoyer later confirmed after research was, in fact, required in the U.S.), which prevents cargo loss and with this inert gas protection no explosion occurred as the MTBE volatilized into the atmosphere. We were lucky to not have an explosion. CAPT Penoyer complimented the Houston Pilots on their efforts during the response as they pivoted ships around while moving vessels into and out of Barbour’s Cut terminal docks because the turning basin was not available while the CARLA MAERSK response used that place of safe refuge to eliminate the MTBE risk. Three points were made about the collision.

  1. We have used thePlace of Safety Refuge Plan for salvage situations like these. However, the original plan created back in 2006 during HOGANSAC needs to be updated.
  2. This is the first time that we have had a chemical tank incident in the U.S since salvage regulations were put in place, and perhaps the first use of these regulations during a CERCLA chemical release response.
  3. The CERCLA Chemical release response framework interacted with air release and Clean Air Act regulatory frameworks.There was a tradeoff between surface release, salvage actions, and air emissions under the air emission regulations. Generally, the air emission regulations are designed built for normalvessel operations or planned releases during normal operations. That interaction with air release / CERCLA / Salvage regulations was the hardest part of this response.

There is no direct plan on how to salvage various specific types of ship causalities. Because no pre-planned salvage play-book exists in the Area Contingency Plan, it took a while to figure out how specifically to salvage the vessel, remove the remaining MTBE cargo, and protect public health particularly for the place of safe refuge. There are different salvage plans out there, but expectations about the speed of salvage – as a measure to protect health and reopen the channel – do not automatically align. During this case, some salvage options were tried that failed, which caused delays and it is a process of experimentation. Because of the potential human health and environmental impacts, each salvage response option had to be evaluated and weighed against alternatives. The future expectations for Salvage in this context here in the U.S. arequite high and more time sensitive. Further, various salvage contracts create different responsibilities and liabilities between the owner and the salvor, and some of the issues are so technical that the company representative working with the salvor may not be the person representing the company as the “Responsible Party” for emergency pollution removal purposes.

There is a salvage tab in the Coast Guard handbook, which defines salvage solutions.However,it is not a “how-to-do” system, and there is not a tactical salvageplan – there are too many possible salvage scenarios and each ship is too different. Accordingly, each salvage plan must be created on the spot, reviewed, and presented to the unified command for sign off on. The Carla Maersk vessel is a good example of future issues.

The Place of Safety Refuge plan was built to address major accidents occurring offshore and seeking place inshore to repair, but bad things can happen in the Port as well. The safe refuge plan needs to be adjusted to involve the Port. We had an impressive Port response during this incident, and we need to consider all of our salvage resources and be able to adapt to what is happening. This particular event was a wake-up call for chemical tankers and companies involved in the coordination.

Things are only going to get more challenging as this region has never been more relevant, and more scrutinized. CAPT Penoyer thanked the Houston Pilots, the Port of Houston Authority, Enterprise Products, and the City of LaPorte/City of Morgan’s Point for their cooperation, partnerships, and response effort during the collision. The key message is that we need to be preventing collisions, rather than responding to them. CAPT Penoyer will eventually have something written regarding the incident.

Mr. James Prazak commented that he recommended doing some more outreach with outsiders (ex. salvage experts) of the industry in regards to events like these. The maritime industry is sensitive and the willingness to accept liability responsibility has dropped. The level of scrutiny on response actions is tough.

SUBCOMMITTEE REPORTS

  • Maritime Education, Training, and Outreach – Presented by Ms. Tammy Lobaugh
  1. The Maritime Education subcommittee report is enclosed: enclosure (2).
  2. Subcommittee has been restructuring and going through reorganization. Former members have relocated and are no longer active. Mr. Robert Hawn of WGMA is the alternate.
  3. The committee is reaching out to new members.
  4. Next week will be the third week in June- Tammy will send out information.
  5. Philip Kropf is sharing valuable information regarding the recreational boating community.
  6. The subcommittee reached out to local high schools and challenged them to design a PowerPoint presentation on the subject of Volkswagen vehicle transportation and logistics to the Port of Houston. A hard copy by the first place winner, Brandon Murdock, will be posted on the LSHSC website.
  7. The National Maritime Day Ceremony in Galveston will be held on Thursday, May 21st from 3:30-5:00 p.m. at Pier 21- Galveston Island. It is a collaborative effort with partners. The flyer will be posted on the LSHSC website as well. There will be a vessel expo to help provide orientation to the industry starting at noon. 700 fifth and sixth graders will be attending. It is by invitation only.
  1. Navigation Operations- Presented by Mr. Aaron Heniger on behalf of Mr. David Foret
  1. The Navigation Operations report is enclosed: enclosure (3).
  • Facility Team has held several facility visits including proactive design input.
  • Last subcommittee meeting was on April 21st at the ACTion Group.
  • Subcommittee is continuing to report ATONs.
  • Casualty Analysis Workgroup discussed the following at March 24th meeting: Safety Bulletin/Lessons Learned process, Heavy Cargo Loading/Offloading Safety Bulletin, Electrical System Failures, Gulf Menhaden Issue, and Safety Bulletin
  • Brownwater University was held on March 4th, 5th, and 6th, the next event is scheduled for September 2015. We will have a planning meeting in June with location/date/time to follow.
  • Slack Line Reporting continues to prove an effective tool. Subcommittee continues to monitor slack lines on the channel.
  • A heavy lift operations working group was formed. They will be reaching out to companies and organizations on issues.
  • Bayport Mooring/Push-in issue- A meeting was held on February 19that Sector Houston-Galveston in the VTS conference/training room. The following issues were driving factors for the meeting, Larger ships, LBC Wharf/Dock development and the San Jacinto College/G&H Towing developments. The area of barge push-ins was previously addressed in 2009 and 2011. This was a proactive meeting to address the previously mentioned driving factors.The meeting was well attended with representatives from the following stakeholders: VTS, Waterways Management, Three major barge lines: Enterprise

Kirby, Florida Marine, Odfjell, LBC, and ExxonMobil.The results of the meeting are as follows:

  • From July 1st, No Routine Bayport Push-Ins by Itinerant Tows.
  • LBC and Odfjell Terminals Accepting Tenders From Barges 4 Hrs Out.
  • LBC and Odfjell Terminals Accepting Tenders From Barges On GIWW (Gulf Intracoastal Waterway)
  • Unoccupied chemical terminal docks may be available to support LBC and Odfjell barge shuttle operations.
  • VTS/Port Coordination Team will continue to coordinate unstacking of pent-up tow traffic after fog/heavy weather events
  • Next Meetings will be held: Nav Ops, June 2nd at 9:00 AM (location TBD), Casual Analysis Working Group, June 9th at Moran Shipping, 10:00 AM

3. Waterways Utilization – presented by Mr. JJ Plunkett

a.The Waterways Utilization report is enclosed: enclosure (4).

  • Last meeting was held on 3/10/15 (joint Dredging/Navops/Waterways meeting)
  • Next scheduled meeting will be on 5/19/14 at WGMA (West Gulf Maritime Assoc.)
  • Facility workgroup (chaired by Clint Winegar) recently toured the new ITC facility as they are expecting their first ship. They checked out all the moorings. They also talked about getting dredge profile for the slip and how it interacts with the main channel to determine exactly where the slope is. They also went next door to Greentech (Agrifos dock)- they haven’t had a lot of ships there. They do mostly barge work.
  • Anchorage work group (Co Chair: Jim Andrews/Navin Griffin) last met in January on 1/14/15 to discuss progress and regulatory process to have a restricted anchorage designated. They are currently sketching that out. The Pilots approved to put in a 45 ft. draft in that area.
  • Terminal & Ship Traffic Efficiency working group (ex. Chemical tanker scheduling Optimization Workgroup) (Chair: Captain George Pontikos). Work to be completed:
  • Remove the spoils area in the Galveston channel from the chart 11324,
  • Insert a special restricted anchorage in the western portion of the former spoil area,
  • Create three unrestricted small vessel anchorages to the south of the channel *Note: The Houston Pilots recently approved a working rule to permit vessels with up to 40’ draft into Anchorage A.

There is a bulk liquid terminal operator workshop entitled, “Understanding how navigation safety rules impact dock efficiency” scheduled for May 21, 2015 at the Houston Pilots’ Deer Park facility. The current list of attendees includes two or three representatives from nearly all of the bulk liquid terminals along the Houston Ship Channel.

Discussion Items:

A Bluewater/Brownwater workshop was held March 26th and 27th at the Houston Pilots’ office in Deer Park. Mr. Plunkett showed video of event to the committee. The event idea came about from recommendations to put both groups together to facilitate communication. A lot of case studies went on, although there was not a textbook answer to the issues and scenarios.

  • Next course will be late 2015, location TBD.
  • Attendees: 43 attendees, representing 13 tow boat operators and 4 ship pilots associations.
  • Objective was an open forum approach, connect and improve communication between waterway users with a specific focus on pilot, tug, and tow interaction. Increase appreciation of the challenges faced by other mariners in the port area, thus developing incentives to proactively communicate to guard the safety of navigation. Program coursework includes review of selected case studies with group break-out sessions to analyze and document actions that improve coordination between active mariners.
  • Capt. Clint Winegar commented that there was actually a situation that happened regarding an in-bound tow a week or so after the seminar, and an attendee was able to apply the information.

New marine docks and traffic:

  • The new Oiltanking#9 dock began taking operations in February 2015. It has not had any ships yet, but has had a number of ATB’s. South Central Cement (Argos) has modified their dock to include a self-unloading cement barge. This dock began receiving ships again in April.
  • The HSC’s newest bulk liquid terminal, ITC Pasadena, should begin receiving ships later ship month. The larger of the two docks is capable of receiving 750 ft. x 125 ft. ship.
  • The next new dock to become operational is probably LBC Dock #4 – which is scheduled to be finished by late 2015.
  • Enterprise is still on track to begin operations at their ethane ship dock at Barbours’ Cut in late 2016.
  • Total deep draft traffic transits for Jan-April 2015 was 6,320, an increase of 3.7% over 2014.

Additional Working group updates- presented by Mr. George Pontikos

Chemical Tanker Scheduling Optimization Working Group:

  • The meetings for this working group have been postponed for two main reasons:

a) Attending personnel had different views from the management of their companies and the group could not move forward.