by Diver Dan » July 9, 2020, 10:19 am
The pipeline was recently shut down (both legs) by the courts. although Enbridge just reported that they ran a sensor pig through the west line and it showed no internal damage or changes in thickness. They now have to go back to the court that shut them down, I believe next Tuesday, and ask for permission to restart the west line. The work barges have been out daily, so they may already be working on the damaged anchors for the east pipeline. The Federal pipeline safety board had no issues with them restarting, the shutdown was due to action taken by the Michigan Attorney General's office.
Enbridge currently has small boats stationed out of Mackinaw City, which monitor the pipeline area and run a circle around any ships approaching the pipeline, visually inspecting that the anchors are fully stowed, and contacting the vessel by radio to remind them to take precautions against anything that could impact the pipelines.
The boats are on and off the water at various times, and the inspections usually happen several miles away from the area of concern so you normally don't see the small boats, but they are sometimes shown on the AIS system (numbers only).
Right now I don't know if the boats are out at night or in rough weather, but I'll try to find out. I just know that I don't always see their boats on the AIS even though there are freighters passing through.
The pipeline was recently shut down (both legs) by the courts. although Enbridge just reported that they ran a sensor pig through the west line and it showed no internal damage or changes in thickness. They now have to go back to the court that shut them down, I believe next Tuesday, and ask for permission to restart the west line. The work barges have been out daily, so they may already be working on the damaged anchors for the east pipeline. The Federal pipeline safety board had no issues with them restarting, the shutdown was due to action taken by the Michigan Attorney General's office.
Enbridge currently has small boats stationed out of Mackinaw City, which monitor the pipeline area and run a circle around any ships approaching the pipeline, visually inspecting that the anchors are fully stowed, and contacting the vessel by radio to remind them to take precautions against anything that could impact the pipelines.
The boats are on and off the water at various times, and the inspections usually happen several miles away from the area of concern so you normally don't see the small boats, but they are sometimes shown on the AIS system (numbers only).
Right now I don't know if the boats are out at night or in rough weather, but I'll try to find out. I just know that I don't always see their boats on the AIS even though there are freighters passing through.