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Tests on Gulf oil "superskimmer" inconclusive: ship owner
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TMT Shipping Offshore's converted supertanker, ''A Whale'' and dubbed a ''super skimmer'' is pictured 14 miles (23 km) northwest of the BP oil spill site as Coast Guard officials conduct tests to measure the vessels effectiveness in capturing oil and separating it from sea water in the Gulf of Mexico July 4, 2010.
Credit: Reuters/ Lyle W. Ratliff
NEW ORLEANS |
NEW ORLEANS (Reuters) - Tests on a supertanker adapted to skim large quantities of oily water from the surface of the Gulf of Mexico are inconclusive because of high seas, ship owner TMT Shipping Offshore said on Monday.
Tests on the so-called "super skimmer" conducted just north of the blown out BP Plc well were supposed to be completed on Monday but have been extended because of the weather, said spokesman Bob Grantham.
"After an initial 48-hour testing period results remain inconclusive in light of the rough sea state we are encountering," Grantham said.
"Therefore, working in close coordination with the U.S. Coast Guard, we will be undertaking an additional testing period to make operational and technological adjustments aimed at improving skimming effectiveness given the actual conditions we are encountering in the Gulf," he said.
He said smaller skimming vessels were also struggling to operate in the conditions caused by the aftermath of Hurricane Alex, which passed through the Gulf last week.
The 1,100-foot (335 meter)-long ore and oil carrier named "A Whale" is seen as a potential savior of efforts to clean the oil pollution because it can collect 500,000 barrels (21 million gallons) per day of contaminated water.
It operates by allowing oily surface water into the ship through a series of 12 horizontal slits on the port and starboard sides of the ship near the bow. The liquid is then decanted through a series of tanks to separate oil and water.
Though the total amount of oil and water mix in the Gulf remains unknown, the ship's capacity would vastly increase what is currently being skimmed by smaller vessels.
The "A Whale" underwent an initial test off the coast of Portugal where it was fitted out for its new role and passed with flying colors, crew members said.
As a result, the company expected little difficulty in proving that it could work in the Gulf.
If it passes the test, the Taiwanese parent company TMT hopes to secure a contract with BP to skim oil and it is also preparing two additional ships for the task.
(Editing by Alan Elsner)
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Landry’s done this before—she oversaw the 2003 spill in Buzzards Bay, Massachussets . Then, as now, her initial reports of the spill total were way off. Landry, a Coast Guard rear admiral, has gone from taking reporters’ questions at the White House to giving reporters tours of the damage, but there are also reports that the Coast Guard is keeping reporters and photographers from getting a full picture – and doing so at the behest of BP. (The Coast Guard says they are accommodating as many media requests as they can; Landry hasn’t commented).
We have got to ask how the response to the Gulf of Mexico spill compares to the 2003 Bouchard B 120 oil spill in Buzzards Bay,Massaacusetts?
Two things come to mind. First the U.S.Court of appeals never allowed the state of Massachusetts to enforce the Massachusetts Oil Spill Prevention Act of 2004. The Coast Guard appealed the rules because of an intercoastal turf war leaving the state with no new laws to protect the bay. Second the residential property claims of thousands of residents have been tied up in the Massachusetts court system for the past eight years. How will residential property owners around the gulf have to wait?
On April 27, 2003, eight years ago the Bouchard Barge B-120 hit an obstacle in Buzzards Bay, Massachusetts creating a 12-foot rupture in its hull and discharging an estimated 100,000 gallons of No. 6 oil.
Do they get paid and have the opportunity to sell the captured oil to the highest bidder?
Thank you
JRATL
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