Edison Chouest Offshore in Alaska

[QUOTE=tugsailor;195649]After ECO’s highly experienced rig towing experts took the wrong route, at the wrong time of year, into well forecast severe weather, taut-lined the far too short tow wire for hours ignoring alarms and overpressure indications, surprise surprise, they parted the tow wire leading to Aiviq losing propulsion and Kulluk ended up on the rocks— a total loss of the only well proven Arctic drilling rig. This resulted in regulatory push back that killed Arctic drilling for at least another generation.

Two years later, in spite of a damning USCG investigation report, ECO higher ups nonetheless insisted in the press that ECO had done nothing wrong. They are not just inexperienced in Alaska, unskilled, and without basic knowledge of towing. They are big fat liars. The last people we need back in Alaska.[/QUOTE]

I think that there are certain people that fit the bill, but not all of them.

I know someone who was deeply involved within Shell during that fiasco and he said that Shell had a bunch of morons running the show. That has changed since then, but a valuable lesson learned (hopefully).

The previous Shell administration and radical environmental terrorists are the main reasons things did not go as planned in Alaska. Sad!

[QUOTE=Jeaux Bawss;195699]The previous [B][I][U]Shell[/U][/I][/B] administration and radical environmental terrorists are the main reasons things did not go as planned in Alaska. Sad![/QUOTE]

I always knew that deep inside you really were an idiot…

[QUOTE=Jeaux Bawss;195699]The previous Shell administration and radical environmental terrorists are the main reasons things did not go as planned in Alaska. Sad![/QUOTE]

Yeah, you’re right. It is the fault of Shell administrators who did not know they hired coonass morons to work in Alaska, and environmentalists who did not stop an operation that anyone who ever worked tugs in Alaska knew was a lost cause before it left the dock.

I am an honest man. My company did not do anything wrong. This whole narrative is a way of saving face for Other operators losing a contract bid that everyone thought they were supposed to win. The other operators are overplaying their hand. They lost the contract bid and now, they have lost their grip on reality. The real story is all of the illegal leaks of classified and other information perpetrated by radical environmental terrorist that have infiltrated the various agencies and companies. It is a total witch hunt!

[QUOTE=Steamer;195711]Yeah, you’re right. It is the fault of Shell administrators who did not know they hired coonass morons to work in Alaska, and environmentalists who did not stop an operation that anyone who ever worked tugs in Alaska knew was a lost cause before it left the dock.[/QUOTE]

The crew had very few coonasses. The captain, chief mate and 2nd mate on board when they lost the tow were all from the northeast. The problem was no one wanted to risk their jobs and say no to sailing to Shell.

I don’t think that was the only problem…

[QUOTE=Deckgrinder;195779]The crew had very few coonasses. The captain, chief mate and 2nd mate on board when they lost the tow were all from the northeast. The problem was no one wanted to risk their jobs and say no to sailing to Shell.[/QUOTE]

Thanks for that information but it doesn’t change the fact that the whole operation and its outcome was a product of coonass culture, ignorance of the region and its weather, and fear of saying NO to the company or the client. The boat was coonass built to coonass standards, and the engineer was a shadetree coonass mechanic.

That company and its culture should not be permitted to work in Alaskan waters. If the locals could ban a tanker from working in PWS just because some mate ran it onto the rocks they should be able to prevent a company from getting a second chance at putting the region at risk . After all, it was the company culture and its operating procedures, not the ship itself that ran into Bligh Reef just as it was company culture and procedures at the root of the Aiviq debacle.

Is this old news? any details from the guys up that way?

The official transition date is Sunday. Edison is replacing Crowley’s 250-person workforce with its own crews, and has built several tugs and barges for the job at its Lower 48 shipyards.

What a waste.

Interesting read, http://www.pwsrcac.org/wp-content/uploads/filebase/board_meetings/2017-09-14_board_meeting/%20PRESENTATION–SERVS%20Marine%20Services%20Transition%20Update.pdf

Hard landings and dents are gonna happen. Especially with new, probably nervous crews, on unfamiliar equipment, probably with company types breathing down their necks. You’d think they’d have only their steadiest hand, long-time ASD guys doing all the jobs until all of the publicity of the turnover blows over. But Chouest seems to often have an issue with Murphy’s Law.

I thought this would be a much better read by now…

You guys are losing your touch :joy:

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This was actually serious damage. I saw pictures from inside the ship’s double bottom, it’s not the “gonna happen” kind of damage.

I am waiting with eager anticipation for the first case of mystery goo to shut down one of these escort tugs right in the middle of PWS.

Really got to wonder how many of AIVIQ’s genius crew are now working in this operation? No reason for ECO to lose any of them because as far as ECO is concerned, everyone of them performed brilliantly in 2012. Every bad thing that happened on an ECO vessel was the work of ecosaboteurs!

Replacing very experienced and proven Crowley with inexperienced Chouest (which put Kulluk on the rocks and killed Alaska offshore drilling) was a huge and very obvious mistake from the beginning. For what, saving a few pennies?

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I think Tidewater had this contract before Crowley but lost it in the late 90’s or early 2000’s. I worked for TDW at that time & remember TDW losing a big contract up there. It seems the Alyeska people don’t mind hiring southern companies, OSV companies & the lowest bidder so it isn’t unprecedented to go with an outfit like ECO. I also read the article & its comment section posted by boattrash1 about the damage to the tanker. From the comment section it seems the local Alaskans weren’t happy with Crowley because of several DUI’s by Crowley employees & a recent vehicular homicide during one of those DUI’s. And they aren’t happy with Chouest because it is a nonunion shop. The latter is easier to fix than bringing the dead back to life, it only takes 51% to move in a union. Also, I don’t recall working with any brain scientists or rocket surgeons while working for Tidewater, if those guys could do the job anybody can. My former TDW coworkers said it was a gravy job back then. I think ECO will do an okay job if they can stay out of the newspapers & bars & probably the Alaskans will love them if they go union.

IKR, I was really looking for some Bayou bashing…

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It’s amazing that Chouest dented a Crowley tanker. That adds physical injury to insult.