1. Home
  2. TRID
  3. View Record
https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/27432/critical-issues-in-transportation-for-2024-and-beyond

NORTH SLOPE OIL AND GAS TRANSPORTATION STUDY

There are several routing schemes for the removal of Alaskan oil. With the exception of the Mackenzie River pipeline, each of the routes includes a sea-leg component. The development of the Mackenzie River scheme would eliminate a sizeable potential ship market, and concern over this possibility prompted a new examination of the Northwest Passage. This examination centered on determination of the more sensitive elements of the proposed all-icebreaker tanker system and the development of more economical alternatives to these sensitive elements. This has resulted in a new system concept, FROST, Floating Repair and Oil Storage Terminal. Where a large icebreaker tanker could average seven to ten knots in the new ice of Baffin Bay, as little as one knot could be expected through parts of the old ice. The economics of the icebreaker system are very sensitive to the average speed through the ice, and current speed estimates practically double the early expected transportation costs by this method. The development of a floating terminal which could move with the seasonal extremes of the Baffin Bay ice grew from the realization that the expensive, highly specialized icebreaker tanker could not operate economically in open water. With a terminal constantly on the edge of the ice pack, the icebreaker could spend practically all of its operational time in the ice. This was the basis for FROST. Having evaluated the effect of FROST on the icebreaker system, its effect on the economics of the even more expensive nuclear submarine system was determined. Here again, FROST would be used for on station docking and maintenance, and tankers of about 120,000 dwt would be used for the East Coast leg. This combination system was evaluated against the General Dynamics proposed system of transferring at a southern Greenland terminal. FROST is capable of docking and making both minor and major repairs with the use of its own shops and crew to either the icebreakers or the submarines. To save docking time, FROST was designed to dock a fully loaded icebreaker and accomplish ballasting up and offloading oil simultaneously. FROST was also designed to include tankage for crude oil storage of 606,000 tons to minimize the criticality of rendevous scheduling. This report provides an economic analysis of the following transport systems: a) icebreakers only; b) icebreakers/FROST and conventional tankers; c) submarines and conventional tankers; d) submarines/FROST and conventional tankers to the East Coast.

  • Supplemental Notes:
    • Study Report by the Advanced Systems Design Group.
  • Corporate Authors:

    Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company

    Newport News, VA  United States  23607
  • Publication Date: 1970-10

Media Info

  • Pagination: 45 p.

Subject/Index Terms

Filing Info

  • Accession Number: 00043754
  • Record Type: Publication
  • Source Agency: Maritime Administration
  • Files: TRIS, USDOT
  • Created Date: Apr 27 1973 12:00AM