Coast Guard to Deploy VOSS
The U.S. Coast Guard is exercising their pollution response capabilities by deploying a Vessel of Opportunity Skimming System (VOSS) from the Coast Guard Cutter Katherine Walker, a 175-ft. Keeper class buoy tender home ported in , , in Thursday, June 26, 2008. Media are invited to observe the exercise from aboard the Katherine Walker or the Coast Guard Cutter Sturgeon Bay, a 140-ft. Bay-class ice breaking cutter home ported in Bayonne, N.J., also involved in the exercise. The will host high school students from the Science and Technology Preview summer camp, an environmental education program based in , for the event. After the deployment, the students will meet the cutter Katherine Walker crew in for a tour of the ship and the VOSS equipment.
Coast Guard Tests Oil Recovery System
The Coast Guard is scheduled to deploy its Vessel of Opportunity Skimming System Tuesday at 3 p.m. from the Coast Guard Cutter Maria Bray in the St. Johns River during a training exercise. VOSS is designed to be transported to an oil spill site and convert any suitable ship available (commercial, private or government-owned vessel) into a single ship, oil-recovery platform. The Coast Guard has 19 of these systems pre-positioned nationwide for pollution response. This VOSS deployment is part of Sector Jacksonville's three-day training program designed to better prepare Sector Jacksonville personnel for a hazardous materials spill on the First Coast. The training includes extensive classroom discussion and hands-on training for VOSS deployment. The Maria Bray is a 175-ft.
Coast Guard to Conduct Spill Clean Up Exercise
The U.S. Coast Guard is exercising its pollution response capabilities by deploying a Vessel of Opportunity Skimming System (VOSS) in New York Harbor Thursday, Feb. 15. VOSS is a modular oil recovery system that can be secured to, and operated from, a vessel at a spill site. It is one of 19 systems pre-staged at the Atlantic Strike Team at Fort Dix, N.J., and available for immediate transport anywhere across the country. With this system, a vessel can quickly transform into an oil recovery platform with a maximum skimming capability of 190 gallons per minute. VOSS can be split between two vessels or used as a two-sided sweeping system on a single vessel. The Boston-based First Coast Guard District Response Advisory Team will evaluate the VOSS exercise.
