House Bill Would Requires Two Tugs for Tankers

According to a report from Petroleum News, Provision in a Coast Guard bill would extend dual escorts even to ships with double hulls. Similar legislation pending in the Senate. Federal legislation authorizing Coast Guard appropriations for 2010 has a provision expanding the requirement for dual tug escorts of oil tankers traveling through Alaska’s Prince William Sound. The Coast Guard bill, H.R. 3619, would require that double-hulled tankers, and not just single-hulled ships as the law now specifies, be accompanied by at least two emergency towing vessels.

(Source: Petroleum News)