Whale of a skimmer not ready to attack Gulf oil after weekend of testing
The behemoth Taiwanese oil skimmer, A Whale, is not yet ready attack the Gulf of Mexico oil spill after a weekend of testing proved inconclusive, said a statement this morning from TMT Shipping Offshore, owner of the ship.
“After an initial 48-hour testing period, results remain inconclusive in light of the rough sea state we are encountering,” said Bob Grantham, spokesman for the company. “Over this same period, very few other skimmers have even been deployed. Therefore, working in close coordination with the US 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.”
Grantham said officials expect conditions to improve on the Gulf soon. Being a newly developed tool to battle oil slicks, the A Whale, a 10-story-tall, 350-yard-long vessel, requires testing and adjustments before moving into action, he said.
Further to the above, it finally went to sea and tests are ‘inconclusive’. I do wish the Media would try to get things right. The vessel is being described as a ‘supertanker’ it is not. Correct that to oil bulk ore carrier, OBO. It has cargo tanks, cargo holds, cargo hatches and cargo cranes which can be seen in the photo. To be effective in this spill of long seperated rodes of oil the vessel needs a dynamic positioning system, none has been mentioned. Most likely two tugs will be needed to assist in the positioning to skim. Anyone got ideas on this?
Good Watch
The A Whale tanker can be a great help to catastrophic oil spill like what happened in Gulf of Mexico but not as a surface oil spill skimmer but as crude oil storage facility with oil/water separator and cleaner of crude oil recovered deep from under the sea. If TMT is interested how we can do this, please contact us at:
UNDERSEA OILSPILL SOLUTIONS
20-9088 Jones Road
Richmond, BC, V6Y 4G8
Canada,
Tel. No.:(604) 278 0411
E-mail: jypestano@yahoo.com
Jaime Pestano