Oil Remaining News

The 93 passengers and 36 crew on a ro-ro ran aground approximately 100 meters from shore at Barangay Nasunugan in Banton, the Philippines, at midnight on July 16 have now been rescued and refloating efforts have begun.Montenegro Shipping’s Maria Helena was sailing from Lucena Port in Lucena City, Quezon Province, bound for San Agustin Port in Tablas, Romblon, when the incident occurred.The vessel has been listing 10 degrees to portside, and the Captain is reported to have attributed the list to to the explosion of one tire of one of the rolling cargoes onboard…

The U.S. Coast Guard and Florida’s Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) are monitoring periodic discharges of oil from the Liberty Ship Thomas Heyward, a World War II era vessel sunk in 1977 to serve as an artificial reef approximately six miles southwest of Destin, Fla.Following Hurricane Sally in September 2020, the National Response Center (NRC) began receiving reports of pollution in the vicinity of the artificial reef. Coast Guard personnel conducted preliminary investigations…

Sri Lankan fishermen say they feel helpless after a cargo ship carrying tonnes of chemicals and plastics caught fire and later sank, resulting in a ban on fishing along an 80 km (50 mile) stretch of the island nation's west coast.The Singapore-registered MV X-Press Pearl, carrying 1,486 containers, including 25 tonnes of nitric acid along with other chemicals and cosmetics, was anchored offshore when a fire erupted after an explosion on May 20.Flaming containers filled with billions…

The U.S. Coast Guard has contracted Resolve Marine Group to conduct a full assessment of oil remaining on the Coimbra wreck, located approximately 30 miles southeast of Shinnecock, N.Y. If substantial oil still remains, and if feasible, the Coast Guard will work with Resolve Marine Group to remove oil from the wreck in order to reduce pollution risks to the environment.The operation is scheduled to take place from April 28th to May 30th. The initial evaluation will assess the condition of the tanker and what potential environmental impact still exists. Based on the assessment, possible oil removal operations will take place.During the operation…

A diving contractor has removed oil from the wrecked research vessel Thetis, more than 30 years after the vessel sank.When the fishery research vessel Thetis went down into 30 meters of water close to Smøgen on the west coast of Sweden in 1985, it took a substantial quantity of fuel oil down with it. Quantities of the oil later escaped from the wreck and appeared periodically among the skerries on that part of the coast.Norwegian specialist Miko Marine said it had been asked by…

Edison Chouest’s Fairweather, LLC lessens Arctic risk while increasing efficiencies in a challenging environment. As interest in offshore commerce in the Arctic increases, key components of any successful operation in this theatre include logistics, assets, and of course, a healthy dose of experience while operating in cold weather environments. To that end, Fairweather LLC’s Arctic operations include the Deadhorse Aviation Center (DAC). Strategically located at Prudhoe Bay, DAC provides oil companies and their suppliers with an aviation command center to manage both onshore operations and Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) exploration and production activities on the Arctic Ocean and Beaufort Sea.

A new NOAA report that examines national oil pollution threat from shipwrecks has been presented to the U.S. Coast Guard. With as many as 20,000 recorded shipwrecks in NOAA’s database, the May 2013 report finds that just 36 sunken vessels scattered across the U.S. seafloor could pose an oil pollution threat to the nation’s coastal marine resources. Of those, 17 were recommended for further assessment and potential removal of both fuel oil and oil cargo. Based on vessel contents…

NOAA presented to the U.S. Coast Guard today a new report that finds that 36 sunken vessels scattered across the U.S. seafloor could pose an oil pollution threat to the nation’s coastal marine resources. Of those, 17 were recommended for further assessment and potential removal of both fuel oil and oil cargo. The sunken vessels are a legacy of more than a century of U.S. commerce and warfare. They include a barge lost in rough seas in 1936; two motor-powered ships that sank in separate collisions in 1947 and 1952; and a tanker that exploded and sank in 1984.

Global marine supplier Alfa Laval now offers a set of sustainable solutions designed to help ship owners and operators comply with current and pending environmental regulations. Grouped under the conceptual name “Pure thinking”, the products will provide security as existing legislation is tightened, as well as compliance with new laws such as those that will regulate ballast water treatment. While most of the solutions can be retrofitted, incorporating them at the newbuilding stage will contribute to gaining DNV’s Clean Design class notation for the vessel under construction. “Long service at sea has given us a deep understanding of the marine environment and demands on the industry.

National On Scene Commander Rob Service said it was impossible to calculate exactly how much oil leaked during the recent heavy weather event, however, it was only a very small amount. While some of this oil appears to have reached the shoreline, it is unlikely to have a significant impact. The oil spill response team will closely monitor the situation over the weekend and remains ready to mount whatever response is necessary. A full team of 16 Svitzer salvors are on board Rena, examining the damage resulting from the recent heavy weather event.

Congressman Elijah E. Cummings (MD-07), a senior member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, sent a request to Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) on August 30, requesting that, in his role as Chairman of the Subcommittee on Domestic Policy, Rep. Kucinich convene a hearing to examine questions surrounding the extent of the oil that remains in the Gulf of Mexico following the spill from the BP Macondo well-site, as well as the adequacy of current government and private industry efforts to assess the danger that remnant oil in the waters of the Gulf poses to the environment and to the seafood harvested from the Gulf.

SMIT Salvage came to the rescue of Zhen Hua 010 when it grounded off of carrying five large ship-to-shore cranes. Ironically, this ship is featured prominently in another feature in this edition of MarineNews, coincidentally in Don Sutherland’s report of large crane deliveries to the . SMIT Salvage has a role in removing threats to the marine environment. For example, during the second quarter work began on the recovery of oily residues from the wreck of the Haven. This VLCC went down off the Italian coast in the 1980s following an explosion and fire. There is no cargo oil remaining inside the wreck's tanks. The aim of this project…

Leading world experts in oil spill response have agreed a series of recommendations to deal with future spills of high density oil during the International Maritime Organization’s Third R&D Forum on High Density Oil Spill Response, held from 11-13 March in Brest, France, following the generous offer of the French Government to host the Forum. Large quantities of high density oil are carried by ships either as cargo or as fuel (bunkers). This oil’s characteristics, including high viscosity and tendency to sink, present particular challenges for clean-up operations in the event of an accidental spill at sea. The recommendations adopted…

Octel Petroleum Specialties, the UK fuel additive manufacturer, has made a significant breakthrough in the science of predicting the stability of heavy fuel oils. The development could lead to greater efficiency in critical applications such as estimating the oil quality before bunkering and evaluating the benefit of additives for upgrading Bunker “C” fuel oils. Bunker "C" oil is currently produced by blending the oil remaining after the refining process with lighter oil. The main destination for Bunker “C” is ships using diesel engines for propulsion. Traditionally, predicting the stability of Bunker "C" is fraught with difficulty, largely because stability is ill defined and also because previous methods have been somewhat subjective. This, however, is about to change.