Marine Spill Response Corp News

When discussing the arrival of autonomous workboats, many – especially those developing the technologies that enable them – say it’s is not a matter of if, but when. In fact, autonomous harbor tugs are already being put to the test in Singapore, where authorities hope to establish the technological infrastructure to enable fully autonomous ship operations. In the U.S., an autonomous vessel was shown to be able to respond to marine oil spills.But is autonomy really the future?

As a part of its cooperative agreement with the U.S. Department of Transportation Maritime Administration (MARAD), Boston-based Sea Machines Robotics announces that it has successfully demonstrated its autonomous systems in action on board a Kvichak Marco skimmer boat during events held along the Portland harbor earlier today.Sea Machines’ technology opens a new era of capability for the marine industry, and today the company demonstrated its ability to increase the safety, productivity and predictability of response for marine oil-spill operations.

Sea Machines Robotics has been a progressive leader in advancing autonomy in the maritime space, and today it announced a deal with the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration (MarAd) to demonstrate the value of Sea Machines’ autonomous technology in marine oil-spill response ops. The scope of the deal has Sea Machines installing its SM300 autonomous-command system aboard a Marine Spill Response Corp. (MSRC)-owned MARCO skimming vessel and will train MSRC personnel to operate the system.

The U.S. Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) informs it has recently tested and verified the sound working condition of various response equipment used in the Gulf of Mexico region. Analysts with BSEE’s Oil Spill Preparedness Division boarded the pollution control vessel Louisiana Responder at Fort Jackson, La. on July 14 to test the response readiness of Anadarko Petroleum Corp. While conducting an equipment verification, the team witnessed the testing of a skimmer and other associated equipment, stored in Buras, La., on the Mississippi River.

As seen in the August edition of MarineNews, Susan Buchanan updates readers on the GOM oil production situation. BP's gushing well was capped more than a year ago but life is hardly back to normal in the U.S. Gulf--where rigs and vessels remain underutilized. At least ten rigs have moved overseas since last summer. Gulf oil production is below pre-spill levels and won't recover anytime soon, analysts say. Issuance of drilling permits picked up this spring as operators agreed to use oil-containment systems but permitting lags earlier rates.

The Coast Guard was responding to an oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico on February 16, 140 miles southeast of Galveston, Texas. The spill is located approximately 30 miles south of the Flower Gardens Banks National Marine Sanctuary, an environmentally sensitive area. At 4:28 a.m. a watchstander at Coast Guard Marine Safety Unit Galveston received a call from the master of the Grady Fagan, a 193-ft offshore supply ship. The master reported that the Grady Fagan hit the rig Ocean Star as it was preparing to offload supplies. The ship was holed below the water line in its starboard fuel tank, the collision also caused a 2-inch gash above the water line. An unknown amount of diesel fuel has leaked from the ship. The fuel tank held 9,000 gallons of diesel fuel.

The Marine Spill Response Corp. (MSRC), the country's largest oil spill response organization, will relocate one of its 210 ft. oil spill response vessels (OSRV) to Pascagoula, Miss. MSRC has 16 OSRVs positioned along the coastline of the continental U.S., Hawaii and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The relocated vessel will be strategically placed in the eastern Gulf of Mexico, and wil provide enhanced coverage in an area where increasing industry activity is occuring, particularly with respect to deepwater oil exploration and production. The OSRV will be relocated from Corpus Christi, Texas. MSRC will maintain a skimming barge and significant amounts of other response equipment in Corpus Christi…