2013 Best Year Yet for Alaska Tanker Company

CEO Anil Mathur reports the marine transportation company's safety and environmental performance was the best since its formation in 1999.

Beaverton, Ore.-based Alaska Tanker Company recently completed its best year in safety and environmental performance since the marine transportation company was launched in 1999, according to CEO Anil Mathur, who reports ATC has the industry's best long-term safety and environmental record. "We have completed well over a decade and eighteen million man-hours with only one lost time injury (broken finger joint), and not a single drop of crude oil spilled to sea in that period. Since start-up, ATC has carried over 1.5 billion barrels of oil out of Alaska (one-third of the State’s production). More than one in ten barrels of crude oil shipped into California and Washington arrive on ATC tankers," Mathur wrote Jan. 3 in a year-end email.

The company's owners are BP Oil Shipping Company, USA; Keystone Alaska, LLC; and OSG Ship Management, Inc.

Mathur added that continual education and training are keys for continued safety success. "Our greatest emphasis is on continuing to develop our technical competencies. Our firm belief is that all safety and environmental performance is based first and foremost on operations integrity. ATC's operations integrity stems from our world class ships built by bp; best in class systems and processes; and a well-trained, competent work force." He listed five areas "on the softer side" on which the company is focused:

  • "Developing our emotional intelligence: self-awareness; awareness of others and our impact on them; managing our impulses etc. It’s proven that developing our emotional intelligence gives us the ability to control and leverage our emotions to deliver optimal performance.
  • "Mindfulness: How we stay engaged while performing repetitive jobs. We are generating simple tools and techniques for staying attentive. These tools are based on recent findings in neurology that provide insights into how the brain works. Our industry leaders obsess about fighting complacency: we believe that for us such a focus on the empty portion of the glass is negative, misplaced and unhelpful.
  • "Leveraging our differences: Generational, national origin; gender differences: these are the realities we face. Greater understanding of varied value systems and behavioral norms prevent knee-jerk biases and promotes effective working relationships.
  • "Wellness: Staying healthy and alert as a matter of choice and lifestyle.
  • "Individual coaching: With all our differences in skill profiles, our coaching in ATC ensures our training is relevant and specific to our individual developmental needs. Our focus is on building our internal capacity to be our own best teacher by reflecting and learning from our daily experiences."

The company's best practices include no-fault near miss reporting, Safety Observation Conversations, daily safety meetings, and annual Extended Leadership Conferences for employees at all levels, he added.

"In the end it is our employees, both in the fleet and on-shore that deliver our performance on every job, every day, one day at a time. Their performance reflects their relentless commitment to our safety culture. They deliver flawless operations despite harsh arctic weather in rough seas, with interrupted sleep patterns and extended periods away from their homes and loved ones. It is to them that we owe our deepest gratitude," Mathur wrote.

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