Atlantic LNG faces shutdown

OPERATIONS at the billion-dollar Atlantic LNG plant in Point Fortin were effectively shutdown over the weekend, with none of the Liquefied Natural Gas being shipped for export, after operators of tugboats at Point Lisas Port refused to work as they protested for better wage packages. With the tugboat operators not carrying out their duties, three massive tankers anchored miles at sea off the Atlantic LNG terminal in Point Fortin. No LNG, stored in Trains I, II and III, could be off-loaded into the tankers for export to the American market, leaving a reported $30 million in loss of earnings to Atlantic LNG. These tugboats carry out berthing, unberthing and escort duties to the three massive tankers, each of which has (according to the PLIPDECO website) an estimated LNG capacity of between 70,000 to 165,000 cubic metres. Berthing and unberthing by the tugboats are necessary since the tankers are too large and heavy to dock at the Atlantic LNG terminal in Point Fortin.

Yesterday, sporadic black smoke billowed out of the Atlantic LNG plant as operators of the billion-dollar facility had no choice but to flare (burn) excess LNG, after the Trains reached their storage capacity. The protesting tugboat workers, including the captains and cooks, are employed by PLIPWIJS — a joint venture Company consisting of Svitzer Wijsmuller Limited (a Danish company) and the Point Lisas Industrial Port Development Company Limited, (PLIPDECO). PLIPWIJS was formed in 1999, as a joint partnership between the Danish shipping giant and PLIPDECO to provide towage in the Gulf of Paria, at the Atlantic LNG terminal and along the North and East coasts of Trinidad. According to Oilfields Workers Trade Union (OWTU) Trinmar branch president Ancil Roget, operations at Train III came to a halt on Saturday evening, after tugboat operators refused to perform berthing duties to allow the filling of  LNG onto three deep sea-tankers.

He said as of yesterday, Train II had also become filled to capacity and estimated that within a matter of hours Train I would also reach full capacity. “Once this happens, the entire Atlantic LNG facility will have to shutdown as no more storage space would be available to hold the processed gas,” Roget said. He said negotiations with PLIPWIJS management late Saturday evening failed to garner an agreement for improved wages and salaries of the tugboat operators. Roget pointed out that the workers, who are divided into four categories, receive less than TT$12 per hour with the tug boat captain receiving $11.25 per hour; engineers $10.25 per hour and deckhands and cooks receiving $6.32 per hour. He said due to severe staff shortage on board the tugs, the cooks were forced to assume additional duties of deckhand and there was no First Mate to offset the responsibilities of the captain. He said the rationing of food was also a source of concern aboard the tug-boats for crew members who spend long hours aboard the vessels. Asked whether the contract workers’ three-week long protest action at Atlantic LNG’s Train IV construction site caused a domino effect on other workers at the LNG project, Roget said that the action was purely coincindential. 

Tugboat captain Antonio Ali, said the issues were raised before with the Company’s management but had not gathered a favourable response. “The issues are salaries and safety issues and people are thinking that they are not being paid for the capacity that they hold and the professionalism that they display in performing their duties,” he said. However, Ali said workers had not abandoned their jobs and were maintaining the Company’s equipment. A meeting to resolve the present impasse  has been scheduled between the OWTU and PLIPWIJS management team. When Newsday contacted PLIPWIJS yesterday, we were told the manager Andre Viera was locked in meetings and that he would return these calls. However, up to late yesterday evening no one from PLIPWIJS had returned Newsday’s calls.