Page 66 - FINAL Phillips 66 50 Year Book

Economics aside, between 1992 and 1994, about £40 million was
invested into upgrading its environmental performance – already much
better than the law required. Work had recently been carried out to
eliminate vapour, dust and sulphur dioxide emissions, and £15 million
was being spent on new water treatment facilities, to achieve 99.99 per
cent water purity – better than new regulations due to come into force.

The year 1994 also saw other developments take place. The boat Spurn
Haven II begin a new lease of life in England, for example. It had come
to the end of its working life as a supply vessel for Conoco’s offshore
activities in Louisiana, US, in 1993. Built in 1979, it used to carry liquid
mud, cement and other supplies.

The vessel was brought across the Atlantic by an American crew, making
an unscheduled stop in the Azores when a generator failed. Britain
came to the rescue; an electrician flew out with a portable generator.
It then sailed to Richards Shipbuilders in Lowestoft for an internal and
external makeover, becoming a workboat for operations at the Tetney
monobuoy. The idea was to bring it into operation gradually but Spurn
Haven II was thrown in at the deep end – literally – when one of the
monobuoy’s mooring chains came loose.

On land, the No.1 Coker Fractionator was replaced. The old tower
weighed 114 tons and was replaced with a new and larger tower; at
12ft 6in in diameter and 120ft tall, it offered an increased capacity to
make premium coke. It was fabricated in Mangiarot, Italy, and journeyed
to the refinery by barge.