A Maneuverable Oil Spill Response Vessel

The maritime industry has seen an increased need for high speed spill response in step with expanding offshore oil exploration and production.

Meeting this need is the newest skimmer boat from Washington-based shipbuilder Rozema Boat Works: a 65-foot oil spill recovery vessel (OSRV), G.M. Penman. 

Key to the vessel’s effectiveness is its maneuverability. G.M. Penman depends on Twin Disc QuickShift transmissions and EC300 Power Commander electronic control system with Express for the critical task of remediation. 

“The G.M. Penman is like a fire truck,” said Jason Rozema, Rozema Boat Works operations manager. “It'll run high speed at 26 knots to the incident, but when it arrives at the spill it has to maneuver carefully around piers and other boats. Twin Disc provides complete control at slow speed.”

The OSRV is equipped with a pair of Twin Disc QuickShift MGX-6620 RV transmissions. With the EC300 Power Commander electronic propulsion control system, the boat is capable of instantaneous shift response from neutral to full ahead to full reverse. “It has fantastic maneuverability,” Rozema said.

Operating at 1–1.5 knots with its QuickShift transmission, the boat utilizes 1,500 feet of Kepner ocean boom and dual Lamor three brush skimmers. It has an on board storage capacity of 215 bbl of recovered oil and crude. The vessel is based out of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

The G.M. Penman is the builder's fifth 65-foot OSRV. The company also produces a 47-foot skimmer; all 14 builds have included Twin Disc QuickShift transmissions.