Giant oil skimmer makes stop in Norfolk on way to Gulf oil cleanup

Giant oil skimmer makes stop in Norfolk on way to Gulf oil cleanup

Let's get this show on the road people,

this is pretty awesome,

www.dailypress.com...

NORFOLK —
After making a brief stop in Norfolk for refueling, U.S. Coast Guard inspections and an all-out publicity blitz intended to drum up public support, a giant tanker billed as the world's largest oil skimming vessel set sail Friday for the Gulf of Mexico where it hopes to assist in the oil-cleanup effort.

The Taiwanese-owned, Liberian-flagged ship dubbed the "A Whale" stands 10 stories high, stretches 1,115 feet in length and has a nearly 200-foot beam. It displaces more water than an aircraft carrier.

Built in South Korea as a supertanker for transporting oil and iron ore, the six-month-old vessel was refitted in the wake of the BP oil spill with 12, 16-foot-long intake vents on the sides of its bow designed to skim oil off surface waters

But a number of hurdles stand in his way. TMT officials said the company does not yet have government approval to assist in the cleanup or a contract with BP to perform the work.

That's part of the reason the ship was tied to pier at the Virginia Port Authority's Norfolk International Terminals Friday morning. TMT and its public-relations agency invited scores of media, elected officials and maritime industry executives to an hour-long presentation about how the ship could provide an immediate boost to clean-up efforts in the Gulf.

TMT also paid to fly in Edward Overton, a professor emeritus of environmental sciences at Louisiana State University, to get a look at the massive skimmer.

Overton blasted BP and the federal government for a lack of effort and coordination in their dual oil-spill response and made a plea to the government to allow the A Whale to join the cleanup operation.

approval pending, keep an eye on this one also,

British Firm Says It Can Fix BP's Oil Slick

British Firm Says It Can Fix BP's Oil Slick

skynew.com

11:54am UK, Friday June 25, 2010

Kat Higgins, Sky News Online
A British company has revealed new blotting paper-like technology it says could be used to suck up large amounts of oil floating in the Gulf of Mexico.

Ultra Green is an environmental research and development company based in Brighton that has been working on a solution to the ongoing disaster in the US.

The firm has developed a membrane that captures oil from the surface of the water so it can then be squeezed out safely.

It plans to mobilise up to 170 local fishing boats which will tow platforms holding a device with the membrane attached into the sea.

mod edit, attempt to fix link

[edit on Mon Jun 28 2010 by DontTreadOnMe]

Shell Oil ex-CEO: Oil well might "NEVER STOP"; Suggests whole casing system is deteriorating

www.youtube.com...

Awesome! Can skim up to 100,000 barrels a day. Wish we had ten of them!

....and while I'm wishing, I wish it had come sooner.

Originally posted by ladyinwaiting
Awesome! Can skim up to 100,000 barrels a day. Wish we had ten of them!

....and while I'm wishing, I wish it had come sooner.

Yes, sooner would have been better, and they are still waiting for approval, this should be top priority, 24/7.

I don't see this ship ever getting federal approval to go down to the Gulf. And I don't see the MSM ever covering this. Obama has to much interest in the Gulf oilspill to further his 'Cap & Tax' agenda to allow it. Remember, Rahm 'Never Let A Serious Crisis Go To Waste' Emanuel is still his Chief of Staff.

Originally posted by Ferris.Bueller.II
I don't see this ship ever getting federal approval to go down to the Gulf. And I don't see the MSM ever covering this. Obama has to much interest in the Gulf oilspill to further his 'Cap & Tax' agenda to allow it. Remember, Rahm 'Never Let A Serious Crisis Go To Waste' Emanuel is still his Chief of Staff.

I know it is making me crazy,

How U.S. labour and ­environmental rules blocked Dutch spill-cleanup technology

Some are attuned to the possibility of looming catastrophe and know how to head it off. Others are unprepared for risk and even unable to get their priorities straight when risk turns to reality.

The Dutch fall into the first group. Three days after the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico began on April 20, the Netherlands offered the U.S. government ships equipped to handle a major spill, one much larger than the BP spill that then appeared to be underway. “Our system can handle 400 cubic metres per hour,” Weird Koops, the chairman of Spill Response Group Holland, told Radio Netherlands Worldwide, giving each Dutch ship more cleanup capacity than all the ships that the U.S. was then employing in the Gulf to combat the spill.

Read more: opinion.financialpost.com...

www.abovetopsecret.com...

Floris Van Hovell, a spokesman for the Dutch embassy in Washington, Dutch dredging ships could complete the berms in Louisiana twice as fast as the U.S. companies awarded the work. “Given the fact that there is so much oil on a daily basis coming in, you do not have that much time to protect the marshlands,”

he says,

perplexed

that the U.S. government could be so focussed on side issues with the entire Gulf Coast hanging in the balance.

Read more: opinion.financialpost.com...

Yea, we are all perplexed,

[edit on 013030p://bSunday2010 by Stormdancer777]

Here is why this vessel is waiting for approval...

en.wikipedia.org...

Now mind you, this only takes an executive order to repeal, but as of yet this has not happened.

Could possibly be because of union interests and their ties to the President.

GBD

reply to post by Ferris.Bueller.II


Oh boy. More partisan finger pointing.

Second line.

reply to post by Stormdancer777


I dont know all the details, but if there are laws on the books, i dont think the government can just disregard them., can they?

Yes, the laws you are citing seem idiotic, but they are still laws. Are you suggesting the Government break its own laws?

If they dont follow the rules, they get called fascists. if they do follow the existing rules, they get called incompetent.

Good things Americans have such a great system that allows them to blame the government for everything while simultaneously expecting the government to solve everything.

Originally posted by GuiltyByDesign
Here is why this vessel is waiting for approval...

en.wikipedia.org...

Now mind you, this only takes an executive order to repeal, but as of yet this has not happened.

Could possibly be because of union interests and their ties to the President.

GBD

Thanks. That is helpful.

[edit on 27-6-2010 by justadood]

Originally posted by GuiltyByDesign
Here is why this vessel is waiting for approval...

en.wikipedia.org...

Now mind you, this only takes an executive order to repeal, but as of yet this has not happened.

Could possibly be because of union interests and their ties to the President.

GBD

Exactly, I am glad you brought that up.

reply to post by justadood



We are watching the gulf DIE, and this is getting exasperating, yea we have a right to be angry.

reply to post by Stormdancer777


I believe BP and the government are getting scare of a possible Hurricane in the gulf with all the activity so far in the Caribbean that can create a type 5 hurricane bringing the oil leak efforts to a stand still and pollution to inland.

reply to post by Stormdancer777


Where did i say you dont have the right to be angry? Talk about straw men.

I asked how you think we are supposed to get from A-Z while still following the law.

Or do you think the POTUS should just make and disregard laws any time they want?

Originally posted by marg6043
reply to post by Stormdancer777

 

I believe BP and the government are getting scare of a possible Hurricane in the gulf with all the activity so far in the Caribbean that can create a type 5 hurricane bringing the oil leak efforts to a stand still and pollution to inland.

HI marg

You think that is why they wont accept help?

Originally posted by justadood
reply to post by Stormdancer777

 

Where did i say you dont have the right to be angry? Talk about straw men.

I asked how you think we are supposed to get from A-Z while still following the law.

Or do you think the POTUS should just make and disregard laws any time they want?

How many days has it been?

Avertible catastrophe,environmental rules blocked Dutch spill-cleanup technology

www.abovetopsecret.com...

reply to post by Stormdancer777



The reason for not 'accepting' help was just posted above. The current law, as silly as it is, is an obstacle. Complaining about the law seems silly. This is how these things work. Unfortunately, they take time. Hindsight being 20/20, its kind of easy to say "oh they should have thought of that" from the sidelines.

Originally posted by justadood
reply to post by Ferris.Bueller.II

 

Oh boy. More partisan finger pointing.

Second line.

As the saying goes "If the shoe fits, wear it.". As Stormdancer777 already pointed out, the regime has already refused help on the cleanup effort from the Dutch back in April. So, time to take your partisan blinders off, and take a look around rather than posting empty responses.

Originally posted by Stormdancer777

NORFOLK —
After making a brief stop in Norfolk ...

The Taiwanese-owned, Liberian-flagged ship ... Built in South Korea ...

My prediction is that this ship will never make it to the Gulf.

If you read Section 27 of the 1920 Merchant Marine Act you will probably agree.

Norfolk is a US port and so this vessel cannot be allowed to continue it's journey.

The Merchant Marine Act of 1920 (P.L. 66-261) is a United States Federal statute that regulates maritime commerce in U.S. waters and between U.S. ports.

Section 27, also known as the Jones Act, deals with cabotage (i.e., coastal shipping) and requires that all goods transported by water between U.S. ports be carried in U.S.-flag ships, constructed in the United States, owned by U.S. citizens, and crewed by U.S. citizens and U.S. permanent residents.

en.wikipedia.org...