Oil Spill Containment News

The 60m RAmpage 6000-ZM vessel Koc Al Zour, built by Uzmar Shipyard, will be the largest Robert Allan Ltd. design ever built in Turkey. She is designed and constructed as a modern double azimuth stern drive (ASD) and is the most capable multipurpose oil spill recovery and offshore support vessel Kuwait Oil Company has ever ordered.The vessel is equipped to undertake operations such as oil spill response, oil spill containment and recovery, area surveillance, offshore fire fighting…

India has sent technical equipment and a team of specialists to Mauritius to help local authorities deal with an environmental crisis after an oil spill from a Japanese ship, a government official said on Sunday.The Japanese bulk carrier Wakashio struck a coral reef off the Indian Ocean island nation on July 25, spilling about 1,000 tonnes of fuel oil and triggering a state of “environmental emergency”.The carrier split on Saturday, and the oil spill spread over a vast area of endangered corals…

Abu Dhabi Ports announced  the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between its subsidiary, SAFEEN, a provider of world-class integrated marine and port services for Abu Dhabi Ports, and ADNOC Logistics & Services, in the area of oil spill containment, cleaning, and maintenance. Under the terms of the agreement, ADNOC Logistics & Services will support SAFEEN in handling tier two oil spill incidents through containment, cleaning and maintenance activities. Tier two oil spills cover a greater area of water and involve more quantities of oil than tier one oil spills, which SAFEEN already is equipped to deal with. Hamad Al Maghrabi…

Norwegian suppliers Framo, Maritime Partner, Norbit Aptomar, and NorLense have come together to create the OSRV (Oil Spill Recovery Vessel) Group to offer a complete oil spill response solution. “Our aim is to be a one-stop-shop where we pool our efforts and act as a total systems supplier of safe, highly functional, and well-tested technology. The emergency response equipment has undergone thorough testing and quality assurance drawing on 40 years of oil spill response experience,” says Jørgen Brandt Theodorsen, Area Manager, Oil & Gas Pumping Systems, at Framo.

Østensjø Rederi’s three new escort towing vessels were officially named on August 26 in Hammerfest. Sponsors of the trio were Unni M. S. Fjær, Inger Vik Framnes and Siv Halvorsen officially naming the vessels Dux, Pax and Audax. In attendance on behalf of designers Robert Allan Ltd. was Rob Allan, Executive Chairman of the Board, on behalf of Østensjø were Chairman of the Board Johannes Østensjø, Chief Executive Officer Kenneth Walland, and Project manager Carl-Johan Amundsen. On behalf of Builders Astilleros Gondán S.A. were their President Álvaro Platero and Financial Director Luis Cotarelo.

T&T Marine Salvage, a member company of the Teichman Group, founded in 1957, received a new certification by the U.S. Coast Guard to detect and recover non-floating oils. T&T is the first Coast Guard recognized Salvage and Marine Firefighting service provider to receive this new Oil Spill Removal Organization classification initiated by the U.S. Coast Guard in 2016. This new certification is in recognition of T&T’s years of experience conducting non-floating oil detection and recovery operations and their expansive inventory of hydrographic…

A towboat that sank in Texas' Neches River August 21, and caused a temporary closure of the waterway, was lifted out of the water Wednesday Evening. T&T Marine, a contractor hired by the towboat company, refloated and towed the vessel Louise to Bolivar Barge Cleaning Service. The vessel was dry-docked and is awaiting inspection and potential repairs. A small amount of residual oil on the water was removed by oil spill responders using oil spill containment and absorbent booms. According to the U.S.

Two activists strapped themselves on Friday to the anchor chain of a Shell Royal Dutch Shell vessel docked in Washington state that will be part of a fleet sent north to Alaska to resume drilling for oil and gas in the Arctic. The women used camping gear and hammocks to attach themselves to the massive chain on the barge in Bellingham, Washington, north of Seattle, the activist group ShellNo said. They attached themselves to the vessel, the American Trader, around 3:30 a.m., the group said. Both are students at Western Washington University, KIRO-TV reported. Bellingham police were not immediately available to comment on whether the pair would be arrested. Images from local media show the two swinging from the chain.

The Arctic Challenger, an oil spill containment barge, that had left Bellingham, north of Seattle, and was headed toward Dutch Harbor, in Unalaska, off mainland Alaska,  reached port in Alaska on Wednesday, June 10, for a brief stop before heading to the Chukchi Sea to support exploratory oil drilling. The vessel is moored on the Aleutian Islands in Dutch Harbor, where the U.S. Coast Guard is beefing up its patrols in case activists show up at the fishing community to protest Royal Dutch Shell’s plans to drill this summer, according to KTUU TV. The Arctic Challenger is one of about two dozen support vessels that will accompany drilling rigs slated to resume a search for fossil fuels as soon as next month in the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas…

Wood Group Kenny (WGK) has secured a five year contract with Oil Spill Response (Capping) Ltd (OSRCL) to provide the maintenance support for a key part of a containment toolkit that would be used to control hydrocarbon release in the event of a subsea well control incident. The multi-million dollar project will see WGK work with OSRCL to ensure that the flexible flowlines included in the toolkit are continuously in a condition suitable for immediate load out if mobilised by subscribing oil and gas operators. This will include maintenance management, recommendations for preservation, inspection and testing of all ancillary and lifting equipment, as well as the flexible flowlines, stored at sites in the UK, Singapore and Brazil.

The U.S. Coast Guard and Washington State Department of Ecology continue to oversee the cleanup and investigate the cause of an oil spill that appeared earlier this week in the Ballard Mill Marina, on Salmon Bay, along the Lake Washington Ship Canal. The Coast Guard and Ecology received reports Monday morning of oil, accompanied by strong petroleum odors in the waters. No one has come forward to take responsibility for the spill, and the Coast Guard has utilized the federal Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund to hire Global Diving and Salvage to conduct the cleanup. The Coast Guard and Ecology have established a unified command to plan and oversee cleanup work.

Freeman Freeman & Smiley say that its lead trial attorney  Robert S. Crowder (assisted by attorneys Russell R. Fisk and John D. Van Ackeren) have celebrated a win with their client, Tesoro Refining & Marketing Company LLC in a lawsuit filed by Plaintiffs North of England Protecting & Indemnity Association Limited, United Africa Petroleum Limited and General National Maritime Transport Company. Plaintiffs brought claims as insurer, owner and operator of the Libyan Motor Tanker Aljalaa for cleanup costs associated with an oil spill which occurred at Tesoro’s Long Beach, California, terminal on February 21, 2011. Although the M/T Aljalaa was admittedly responsible for the spill of its own fuel oil…

The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) sent one of its multi-role vessels in Iloilo to help in relief efforts especially to those far flung islands greatly affected by Typhoon Yolanda. The vessel BRP Davao Del Norte (SARV-3504) arrived in the Port of Iloilo last Saturday. In a meeting with local officials from LGU, DSWD and some media, Coast Guard District Western Visayas Commander, Commo Athelo Y Ybañez divulged, he had directed the vessel and her crew to bring relief goods to islands…

The Coast Guard, along with other federal, tribal, state and local agencies, is conducting a full-scale, anti-terrorism and oil spill response exercise in the Port of Duluth-Superior Aug. 28-29, 2013. In addition to Coast Guard Marine Safety Unit Duluth, participants in Operation Peeking Duck will include maritime industry representatives from the states of Minnesota and Wisconsin, oil spill response agencies, as well as representatives from fire, emergency management and local law enforcement agencies.

An investment research report draws attention to Scout Exploration, Inc. developers of a unique airborne oil spill technology response system. The system is designed to contain offshore and shoreline oil spills, of which there are hundreds every year, ranging from tens of millions of gallons to millions of barrels of oil in size, causing up to tens of billions of dollars' worth of ecological and business damages. Through a recent transaction, Scout has acquired the rights to what may be the most effective method of oil spill containment and remediation.

Andrew Altendorf is the CEO and majority owner of Acme Environmental Inc. Acme’s history spans almost 50 years and the firm is recognized as a pioneer in the manufacture of oil spill containment booms and other oil spill recovery items. A U.S. Coast Guard classified OSRO, Acme and Altendorf support numerous customers in Oklahoma and the Midwest with their emergency response. He has been the President of the Spill Control Association of America since November of 2010. Prior to taking the reins as President, he served on the SCAA Board of Directors for 5 years.

Royal Dutch Shell expects to drill 8 wells in the second half of its two-year Arctic exploration program, 3 more than originally planned. Stubborn ice sheets and permit delays have reduced the amount of time available for Shell to complete the first five wells this year, reports 'Fox Business News'. Shell, which still plans to drill ten wells in two years, is busy working with the U.S. coastguard to complete a special oil spill containment vessel that is being retrofitted to operate in more challenging conditions. The Shell spokesman said ice in the Chukchi and Beaufort seas is thicker than it has it has been in more than a decade. The company has previously indicated that it expects to begin drilling sometime in early August. Source: Fox Business News

While much attention justifiably has been paid to the expansion of offshore energy operations in the Arctic, according to a Reuters report one of the pioneers, Shell, has hit a few snags in its long-anticipated exploration drilling in the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas. According to the news agency, heavier than expected ice in Arctic waters off Alaska will likely delay until August it exploration drilling, and according to a report in the July 11 edition of the Wall Street Journal the company is facing delays to get final approval from the U.S.

Robert Allan Ltd. has completed the design for a major new escort tug for Norwegian tug owners Johannes Østensjø dy AS of Haugesund. The tug will be dedicated to tanker escort operations on the west coast or Norway. The construction contract has been awarded to Astilleros Zamakona A/S of Vizcaya-Bilbao, Spain, with an expected delivery in early 2000. The tug will be built in accordance with DNV regulations as an escort tug, with fire-fighter I and oil recovery certification. It is equipped with the highest standard of oil spill containment and recovery equipment, all of which is stowed in a large "garage" adjacent to the enclosed winch room. A large knuckle-boom crane will serve to launch and recover the equipment, as well as handle deck equipment and stores.

The Coast Guard is investigating a ruptured pipeline under Little Lake, located west of Leeville, La., which released approximately 90,000 gallons of crude oil on April 6. The pipeline's owners, BP of Texas City, Texas, secured the pipeline once the situation was discovered. Garner Environmental arrived on the scene with five boats, one skimmer, 20 personnel and 5,000 ft. of oil boom to contain the spill. In addition, a plane supplied by BP performed a fly-over in order to assess the extent of damage and progress of cleanup. The Coast Guard Marine Safety Office Morgan City is investigating the cause of the spill.

Metso has been awarded major automation system contracts for 3 advanced vessels to be built in Finland. One contract is for 2 Multifunctional Icebreaking Supply Vessels (MIBSV) by Arctech Helsinki Shipyard Oy for Russian Sovcomflot. The second is a Multipurpose Deck Cargo Carrier by STX Finland Oy for Finnish Gaiamare Ltd. belonging to Turku based Meriaura Group. The MIBSV’s are designated for the Sakhalin-1 Arkutun-Dagi gas field and will be used as supply vessels for the Exxon Neftegas Ltd gas platform. They are designed for the harsh environmental conditions in the Sakhalin area with drifting ice and temperatures down to minus 35°C.

Commander, U.S. Naval Forces Europe-Commander, U.S. 6th Fleet flagship USS Mount Whitney (LCC/JCC 20) arrived in Varna, Bulgaria Nov. 8 to officially kick off the multinational Black Sea Partnership Cruise (BSPC), set to commence Nov. 10. Representatives from Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Estonia, Georgia, Greece, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Ukraine and the United States will come together to participate in the six-day, at-sea, interactive trainer, while Mount Whitney serves as the BSPC underway training platform.

The Crowley tugboat Pathfinder, which grounded the night of Dec. 23 on Bligh Reefin Alaska, was stabilized on Dec. 25, at anchor near Busby Island surrounded by oil spill containment boom. A salvage team from TITAN Salvage has arrived at the scene and is evaluating the damage to the tug in preparation for lightering the remaining diesel fuel from two ruptured tanks to another vessel. A light sheen of diesel fuel has been observed outside the boom containment area and is being recovered with skimmers and absorbents. No impacts to wildlife have been observed or reported.