The Design and Service Experience of the Polar Endeavour Class Tankers Robert A. Levine1, (M) SNAME, (M) IMarEST, C.Eng., Manager Engineering Integration & Naval Architecture, ConocoPhillips Marine ABSTRACT The Polar Endeavour (Millennium) Class Tankers, represent the first U. S. flag crude oil carriers designed and built for the Alaskan Trade in compliance with the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (OPA90). These vessels represent the start of a revolution in design for American crude carriers. Not only are they fitted with double hulls, which are deeper than required, but also they are fitted with twin independent engine rooms, and twin rudders. They are the first vessels to be classed R2- S+ and NIBS under the American Bureau of Shipping’s (ABS) Guidelines for Redundant Propulsion Systems and Navigation Integrated Bridge Systems. The vessels meet the requirements for Annex VI of MARPOL for air emissions, and are painted with tin free (TBT) anti-foul paints. This paper describes the design development process used and the unique and innovated design, which resulted. Three vessels have entered service in 2001, 2002 and 2003 and two are under construction for delivery in 2004 and 2005. 1 The opinions expressed in this paper are those of the author and do not reflect those of Polar Tankers Inc., ConocoPhillips Marine, ConocoPhillips Alaska or the ConocoPhillips Corporation. 1 ACRONYMS +A1E Compliance with ABS Rules for Self- KW Kilowatts Propelled Vessels & Equipment LAN Local Area Network (Computer) Standards LBP Length Between Perpendiculars AB Able Bodied Seaman LCB Longitudinal Center of Buoyancy ACCU Compliance with ABS Automatic LV Low Voltage Centralized Control Unmanned Criteria LOA Length, Overall ADSSE Automatic Dependent Surveillance LPP Length, Between Perpendiculars Shipborne Equipment LSFO Low Sulfur Fuel Oil AIS Automatic Identification System LT Long Tons AMS Compliance with ABS Machinery MARPOL International Convention for the Requirements Prevention of Pollution from Ships ANS Alaska North Slope MCR Machinery Control Room ANTS Automated Navigation & Tracking MCR Maximum Continuous Rating System MCS Machinery Control Space APS Compliance with ABS Athwartship MCS Machinery Control System Thruster Criteria MDO Marine Diesel Oil ARPA Automatic Radar Plotting Aid MDL Marine Dynamics Laboratory (SSPA bbls Barrel (42 gallons U.S.) Maritime Consulting) BHP Brake Horsepower MDWT 1,000 Deadweight Tons BHPh Brake Horsepower-Hour mil 1/1000 of an inch CAIP USCG Critical Area Inspection Program MT Metric Tons Cb Block Coefficient MW Megawatt CFD Computational Fluid Dynamics NIBS Compliance with ABS Navigational COI USCG Certificate of Inspection Integrated Bridge System Criteria COW Crude Oil Washing OPA90 Oil Pollution Act of 1990 CP Controllable Pitch OS Operating Station cSt Viscosity – Centistokes PC Personal Computer DGPS Differential Global Positioning System PCU Power Converter Unit DL Compliance with ABS Dynamic Load PMS Power Management System Approach PTI Polar Tankers Inc. DLA Dynamic Load Approach PTO Power Take Off DNV Det Norske Veritas psig Pressure - Pounds per Square Inch Gage DWT Deadweight QMED Qualified Member of the Engine ECDIS Electronic Chart Display & Information Department System R2-S+ Compliance with ABS Criteria for EPA Environmental Protection Agency Redundant Propulsion & Steering FEA Finite Element Analysis Systems with Adverse Weather g/BHPh Grams per Brake Horsepower-Hour Endorsement g/kWh Grams per Kilowatt-Hour ROB Retained on Board GLONASS Russian Equivalent to GPS RPS Redundant Propulsion & Separate GMDSS Global Marine Distress & Safety System SH Compliance with ABS SafeHull Criteria GPS Global Positioning System SHP Shaft Horsepower H1/3 Significant Wave Height SOLAS International Convention for Safety of HFO Heavy Fuel Oil Life at Sea HV High Voltage T Draft HZ hertz (Frequency in cycles/second) Tf Draft, Forward IG Inert Gas Ta Draft, Aft IGS Inert Gas System TAPS Trans-Alaska Pipeline System IMO International Maritime Organization TBT Tri-butyl Tin I/O Input/Output UHF Ultra High Frequency Radio ISO International Standards Organization UWILD Compliance with ABS Underwater Hull Kcal/kg Kilocalorie/kilogram Survey Criteria kJ/kg Kilojoules/kilogram VHF Very High Frequency Radio KV Kilovolts VTS Vessel Traffic System 2 DESIGN highly efficient system. These vessels provided the design basis by which Polar established the design of OPA90 not only created a requirement for new the Endeavour Class vessels. tankers to be fitted with double hulls, it also brought Knutsen and IZAR also provided insights into with it cargo owner liability. Cargo owner liability equipment and manufacturers. While equipment places financial responsibility not only on the exhibitions such as SMM in Hamburg and Owner/Operator of the vessel, but on the cargo owner Norshipping in Oslo provided exposure to a wide as well. For a company like Polar Tankers Inc. variety of equipment, Knutsen and IZAR provided (Polar)2, an Owner/Operator, and through its information regarding good, better, and best. They association with its parent company, a cargo owner, all provided information on favorites and preferences, on responsibilities lie at one doorstep. It is recognized that equipment they were using, and equipment they wished the 80/20 rule applies to tanker accidents, that 80% are they were using. They opened the door to the world of caused by human error, and 20% by mechanical failure. marine equipment, a world not often visited by Polar had invested large sums of time and money in American owners and American shipyards. crew and officer training in order to reduce the human In addition to the help from Knutsen and IZAR, error portion of the 80%. However, there was still an Polar also sought insight and opinion from within. inherent portion of the 80% that resulted from how U.S. Polar’s predecessors, Atlantic Refining and Arco tankers were acquired, and a majority portion of the Marine, Inc., had been operating tankers since 1916. In 20% had gone without being addressed. particular, they had been operating tankers in the Polar, in reviewing its existing vessels, and in Alaskan Trade since the early 1970’s and specifically in looking at world class vessels found, in retrospect, not the Trans-Alaska Pipeline (TAPS) Trade since the so amazing conclusions. Historically, Polar’s tankers pipeline opened in 1978. Polar had at its fingertips data were standard shipyard designs, equipped with on structural fatigue and problems associated with the machinery supplied by the low bidder. Design changes severe weather and high cyclical loadings and short were expensive and served only to correct unacceptable runs in heavy weather. Typical tankers may make 8 or flaws. Chosen equipment, while serviceable, 10 voyages in a year, and 250 in a lifetime. Polar’s represented a long-term maintenance and repair make up to 33 a year and 550-600 in a lifetime. commitment. Ergonomics, habitability, redundancy, Long term exposure to the elements provided a maintainability, and reliability were concepts that were wealth of information on machinery reliability and either not known or ignored. Therefore, to reduce the maintainability. We knew what worked, but perhaps possibility of accidents Polar had to develop a vessel more importantly, what didn’t. With the voyages and designed to be operated easily and efficiently by the the weather come the sea stories and the anecdotal operators with a reduced likelihood of error. The information. From this information comes the data vessels had to first be reliable using proven state of the needed to direct design on ergonomics and habitability. art equipment. The vessels had to be easily maintained It is our belief that anyone sailing, past or present, in by the crew. And most importantly, to insure the Polar’s fleet can proclaim, “I’m responsible for that! I vessel’s safety was not compromised in the event of a told them it needed to be done.” From lighting on deck failure, they had to be fully redundant. and in the engine rooms, to athwartship arrangement of The origin in design of the Endeavour Class bunks, from single messes and lounges to a conference vessels can be traced to the North Sea shuttle tankers, room, from raised catwalks to a cargo control room on and in particular, the vessels owned and operated by “A” deck, Polar employees can claim responsibility. Knutsen AB, and designed and built by IZAR (formerly The Endeavour Class tankers represent a transition Astilleros Espanoles, S.A.). Designed for loading at in design from what the shipyards believed the owner offshore facilities in heavy weather (Sea State 7 and needed in the 1970s, to a ship an owner/operator wants greater), the twin screw, twin rudder tankers, with high for today and for the future. lift rudders and multiple bow and stern thrusters, are Table 1 provides a list of particulars for the capable of dynamic positioning, and operate daily in a Endeavour Class tankers. Figures 1 and 2 show the general arrangement for the vessels. 2Polar Tankers Inc. and ConocoPhillips Alaska, Inc. are wholly owned subsidiaries of ConocoPhillips. Polar Tankers manages the marine transportation of ConocoPhillips Table 1 - Vessel Particulars Alaska’s North Slope production of Alaska North Slope (ANS) crude oil. Polar Tankers has become part of Principal Characteristics ConocoPhillips Marine but continues to maintain its Long Beach, California headquarters. ConocoPhillips Marine Length, Overall (LOA) 272.96m includes several marine related companies along