Dbl 77, a 336-foot oceangoing tank barge, moored to the Port of Port Angeles’ Terminal 3 on Monday.
I’m told personnel cleaned the barge’s storage tanks, which have an aggregate capacity of 3.36 million gallons of either refined petroleum products or crude oil.
Presumably to clean the tanks, the vessel’s onboard system, very similar to a steam cleaner, was used to get the job done.
The accumulated residue was pumped into containment tanks, which were temporarily stored at the log yard adjacent to Westport LLC awaiting transportation to a refinery.
That’s where the oily mess can be refined and will no doubt find its way into the stream of marine petroleum products known as bunker oil.
Navy boat hauled out
Platypus Marine Inc., the full-service shipyard, yacht-repair facility and steel-boat manufacturer on Marine Drive in Port Angeles, hauled out a 65-foot Navy support dive boat last week that likely will be at Platypus for the next couple of months.
I understand that Platypus personnel will inspect and refurbish the drive line as needed.
Her onboard tanks will be inspected and cleaned. The hull and freeboard will be sandblasted and painted, and the nonskid on the deck will be removed and a new layer applied.
Platypus also hauled out YC-1490, a 110-foot Navy deck barge from Bremerton that was originally built as an open lightering barge.
The flat-looking 1490 was built for the Navy in 1968 by the San Diego Marine Ship Building Co., which since has been absorbed into BAE Systems, a British multinational defense, security and aerospace company based in London.
Essential radio
I recently received a news release from BoatUS about an online course for boaters worthy of a mention.
The course is titled “All About Marine Radio.” I must say I know more than a handful of boaters that would benefit from this inexpensive course.
VHF radio communication is essential during emergencies and is often superior to cellphones.
The radios also can be helpful in a number of other nonemergency scenarios such as securing a transient slip at a destination marina.
The variety of radios available can be confusing, and their use can be intimidating.
This course will teach you how to choose the proper marine VHF radio for your boating style and give you the confidence to operate it effectively.
The course is only $24.95 and is available at www.boatus.org/courses; the fee is reduced somewhat for BoatUS members.
At the boat builder
I stopped by Lee Shore Boats last week and spoke with Eric Schneider, president of the Port Angeles boat-building company at 2271 W. Edgewood Drive.
It seems that Eric just can’t get a boat built for himself.
His last attempt was seen by a client who wanted his creation — and bought it.
This time around, the hull was the exact size needed to accommodate a client’s request for an oil spill response vessel that will be shipped to the Mideast next month.
You can’t argue with doing business!
Eric said he will outfit the 23-foot mono hull with a 225-horsepower Honda outboard motor.
He added that once the vessel arrives in the United Arab Emirates, it will be used as a boom boat.
PA Harbor watch
Tesoro Petroleum on Monday provided bunkers in Port Angeles Harbor to British Courage, a 755-foot liquid petroleum gas carrier that is flagged in Britain. The vessel is now underway to Chiba, Japan.
On Wednesday, Tesoro bunkered Overseas Martinez, a 601-foot petroleum products tanker that then got underway for San Francisco Bay.
And then there’s a little home cookin’: Tesoro refueled Brian S, the 100-foot tug that is used to push Tesoro’s fuel barge around the harbor from ship to ship.
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David G. Sellars is a Port Angeles resident and former Navy boatswain’s mate who enjoys boats and strolling the area’s waterfronts and boat yards.
Items and questions involving boating, marina and industrial activities and the North Olympic Peninsula waterfronts are always welcome. News announcements about boating groups, including yacht clubs and squadrons, are welcome as well.
Email dgsellars@hotmail.com or phone him at 360-808-3202.