BP supertanker British Pride made history when it called the Port of Long Beach in December as the deepest oil tanker to berth at a California port. Laden with 1.79 million barrels of crude oil, the tanker came in at a draft depth of 65 feet.

A recently completed $40 million dredging project allows the supertanker and its sister ship, British Progress, to deliver more product than ever to the port’s Berth T121.

The dredging widened and deepened the main channel and the Middle Harbor Turning Basin to accommodate the newest generation of mega-ships. The dredged material, unsuitable for open ocean disposal, was placed in a confined landfill at Pier G. That work allowed the port to add 12 acres to the site and equip Pier G with expanded on-dock rail.

The deepening project that dredged the main channel to minus 76 feet was completed in September 2011, but the Harbor Safety Committee took additional time to work with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife’s Office of Spill Prevention and Response to conduct studies and develop new tug escort standards.

Until Dec. 3, British Pride called Long Beach at a loaded draft depth of 62 feet. The three feet of additional draft enabled her to deliver an additional 67,000 barrels of cargo. Fully loaded, the British Pride has a draft of nearly 74 feet.

The more cargo tankers can deliver at berth means less need for lightering – transferring cargo to smaller ships offshore before docking. Less lightering reduces the risk of spillage and its consequential environmental impact. Eventually, the port hopes to eliminate offshore transfers altogether.

“That’s a whole new level of service and another sign that the Port of Long Beach is a destination port for the biggest ships in the world fleet,” said Tom Jacobsen, president of Jacobsen Pilot Service, Inc. “Deploying a single, larger vessel to move cargo instead of using several smaller ships is the future of this industry.”