BP Shipping’s new U.S.-flag tanker readies for sea trials

BP Shipping’s new U.S.-flag tanker readies for sea trials    The American built, U.S.-flag tanker “Alaskan Frontier” will begin its sea trials in June and should enter service in the Pacific Northwest oil transport business by July.
   The vessel is one of four 185,000-deadweight-ton tankers under construction at the San Diego, Calif.-based National Steel and Shipbuilding Co. for BP Oil Shipping Co. The second BP tanker will be delivered by the end of the year. The third and fourth vessels are due for completion in 2005 and 2006.
   The Marine Engineers’ Beneficial Association-contracted Alaska Tanker Co. will operate the “Alaskan Frontier.”
   The four double-hull tankers are designed to transport up to 1.3 million barrels of oil per voyage from Alaska to BP’s West Coast refineries at Cherry Point, Wash., and Los Angeles.