Residual Oil News

Removal operations for a tug partially submerged at the National Guard Dock in Gastineau Channel, near Juneau, Alaska, are scheduled, weather pending, to be conducted this week and into the weekend, the U.S. Coast Guard said.Melino’s Marine Services, the contracted salvage company, plans to remove the vessel utilizing a barge and crane system that are currently enroute from Bellingham, Wash.The operation is expected to take multiple days pending weather conditions. Once the vessel is removed…

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…

The bow section of the stricken bulk carrier Wakashio has been towed to deeper waters eight nautical miles off Mauritius after the grounded vessel broke apart atop a coral reef near Pointe d'Esny off the Indian Ocean island's east coast. The Japanese-owned Wakashio struck the reef on July 25 and began spilling oil on August 6, triggering the country's worst ecological disaster and prompting the government to declare a state of environmental emergency.About 1,000 metric tons of fuel oil spilled from the cracked hull of the 300-meter…

A Japanese bulk carrier that ran aground on a reef in Mauritius last month threatening a marine ecological disaster around the Indian Ocean island has broken apart, authorities said on Saturday.The condition of the MV Wakashio was worsening early on Saturday and it split by the afternoon, the Mauritius National Crisis Committee said.“At around 4:30 p.m., a major detachment of the vessel’s forward section was observed,” it said in a statement. “On the basis of the experts’ advice…

A U.S. Navy led team has removed 229,000 gallons of oil from a sunken World War II era German heavy cruiser that has been resting on the seafloor near the Marshall Islands for more than 70 years.After being transferred to the U.S. as a war prize, the cruiser Prinz Eugen was loaded with oil and cargo and used to assess survivability of warships during the Operation Crossroads atomic bomb tests in the Pacific. The ship survived two atomic blasts before being towed to Kwajalein Atoll…

A tanker caught fire at the Gadani shipbreaking beach that holds a deplorable record of life threatening accidents on 11 October.Fortunately, no casualties were recorded. Only a few days later, on 14 October, yet another oil tanker named KRITI (IMO 9270737) caught fire, this time injuring seven workers, three of which are in a critical condition.The Platform has reported a series of accidents following the catastrophic explosion that killed at least 29 workers and injured 58 on the 1st of November 2016. Since then, there have been at least five more fires caused by unsafe cutting operations. Difficult access for firefighters, a severe lack of ambulances and no hospital in the close vicinity of the yards aggravate the conditions…

The S-4 screw compressor from Boge Kompressoren has been redesigned, changes designed to make the compressed air system efficient and whisper-quiet at 69 dB(A). The enclosed direct drive provides for low-maintenance continuous operation, even with high dust volumes. The control system, focus control 2.0, supports interconnected operation with up to four units without the use of additional higher-level control. To cater for growing demands from customers for compressed air systems with minimum power consumption in the performance range from 110 to 160 kW…

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.

The trend of modernizing ships and fitting them with more efficient separator systems, which has been noticeable since 2014 particularly in Europe and North America, has continued seamlessly into the first quarter of 2015, GEA reported. More than 50 OSE separators from GEA from the Oelde site have been ordered since the start of the year for ship modernizations for U.S. and Canadian naval authorities alone. The objective of the retrofits is to make the shipping operations of the navy…

With two centrifuge skids for the treatment of drain water, GEA’s Business Unit Mechanical Separation, recently delivered the first retrofit plant. While drilling for oil, drain water collects on the platform in large volumes, which is passed into large tanks together with other waste water occurring. In conformity with the IMO Regulations MEPC.107(49) this contaminated water must not be drained into the ocean before corresponding treatment and de-oiling. The disposal of drain…

The Coast Guard says it is continuing its response to the grounded towing vessel 'Kimberly Selvick' in Lake Michigan off of Burnahm Park.The vessel remains partially submerged, while the two barges that broke free from the tug Monday afternoon have been removed and towed to Calumet Harbor Fleeting. The vessel began taking on water and became partially submerged while trying to retrieve the two barges. Four people aboard the tug were evacuated by a rescue crew from the Chicago Fire Department Marine Unit. No injuries were reported. An overflight of the area revealed  a 10-foot by 100-foot sheen near the vessel. Initial inspections indicated that the sheen was caused by small quantities of residual oil waste from the tug’s bilge and not from fuel onboard.

The U.S. Coast Guard federal on-scene coordinator (FOSC) for the Deepwater Horizon Response completed the transition to the “Middle Response” (“Middle R”) process and opened active National Response Center (NRC) cases for three miles of coastline in Louisiana. “Our response posture has evolved to target re-oiling events on coastline segments that were previously cleaned,” said Capt. Thomas Sparks, the FOSC for the Deepwater Horizon Response. “But let me be absolutely clear: This response is not over – not by a long shot.

UT99 AG, a company in the development and manufacture of oil mist separators for crankcase ventilation of combustion engines and for lubricating oil tank vent for turbines, received Germanischer Lloyd (GL) approval for its oil mist separator. "The world's first class admission of Germanischer Lloyd for a secure oil mist separator is the systematic continuation of our philosophy," explains Lukas Riedo, Managing Director of UT99 AG. Environmental and safety requirements are getting higher in the marine and offshore sectors…

Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement Update on Platform Fire Investigation. The Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) began an investigation early Friday morning into the explosion and fire aboard a production platform, operated by Black Elk Energy, approximately 18 miles southeast of Grand Isle, La. An investigation team was formed by BSEE shortly after the explosion and fire and is comprised of safety inspectors, engineers, safety management investigators, and law enforcement experts.

Coast Guard search continues for missing personnel following blaze on an oil platform in the Gulf of Mexico The fire on a shallow-water drilling oil production platform began while workers were using a torch to cut an oil line, reports Associated Press, and was brought under control within hours. Eleven people were taken by helicopter to area hospitals or for treatment on shore by emergency medical workers. A sheen of oil about a half-mile long and 200 yards wide was reported on the Gulf surface, but officials believe it came from residual oil on the platform. Source: Associated Press

Svitzer salvors have made good progress in removing containers and cargo from Rena throughout the week. Dive operations to remove smaller pieces of debris and cargo have been undertaken. Divers are cutting into parts of the submerged stern section to gain access to containers for removal. The Braemar recovery team is investigating reports of debris washing ashore on Great Barrier Island. The team will fly over the island as soon as weather conditions are favourable to assess the situation.

According to a federal science report released August 4, the vast majority of the oil from the BP oil spill has either evaporated or been burned, skimmed, recovered from the wellhead or dispersed using chemicals –  much of which is in the process of being degraded. Much of this is the direct result of the federal response efforts. A third (33 percent) of the total amount of oil released in the Deepwater Horizon/BP spill was captured or mitigated by the Unified Command recovery operations, including burning, skimming, chemical dispersion and direct recovery from the wellhead, according to the report. An additional 25 percent of the total oil naturally evaporated or dissolved, and 16 percent was dispersed naturally into microscopic droplets.

Measuring 152 x 25-ft. (46.3 x 7.6-m), M/V Bowstring, research vessel that had been abandoned by its owners, was moored outside the M/V Arawak Trader secured to a pier adjacent to the Matthews Bridge in Jacksonville, Fla. On the evening of May 22, 2003, the Bowstring sank and came to rest on rocks, in 16 ft. of water with a port list of 15 degrees. With the vessel’s owners seemingly nowhere to be found, the USCG, Marine Safety Office (MSO), Jacksonville, was faced with a sunken derelict of no value, leaking hydrocarbons and obstructing navigation.

The National Park Service and other agencies issued a Notice of intent to conduct restoration planning to assess natural resource damages resulting from oil spills in the San Francisco vicinity emanating from the S.S. Jacob Luckenbach. The vessel sank off the mouth of the Golden Gate in 1953 and releases of oil from its hull have impacted the nearby waters and shorelines. The residual oil in hull has now been removed. 69 Fed. Reg. 673 (January 6, 2004). (Source: HK Law)

By Joan M. Bondareff and Charles T. In 2001, Congress directed the Maritime Administration (MarAd) to dispose of all obsolete vessels in its inventory by September 30, 2006, and to do so "in the manner that provides the best value to the Government." At present, MarAd has 104 non-retention ships not under contract in three locations around the country-James River Reserve Fleet in Virginia, Beaumont Reserve Fleet in Texas, and Suisun Bay Reserve Fleet in California. MarAd is using a variety of ship disposal options, which include domestic and foreign dismantling/recycling to accomplish this directive. Both have been controversial and foreign scrapping has prompted litigation. This article describes what MarAd is doing and what laws are implicated in this mission. The U.S.

Conrad Industries, Inc. won contracts totaling $13.5 million to build two 300 x 60 x 24-ft. 35,000 Barrel Double Hulled Oil Tank Barges for Penn Maritime, Inc., and to repair, renovate and perform hull modifications to a riverboat casino to be operated in Mississippi. excess capacity at our Deepwater facility which helps us capitalize on our investment there. currently owns and operates 20 barges and 14 tugboats making Penn one of the largest U.S. transporters of residual oil and heated asphalt products. Subchapter D cargoes. Hancock County, Mississippi.