A MAYBE FOR A WHALE

(Photo by Al Covey, VDOT)

From the Advocate in Baton Rouge:

A whale of a skimmer arrived Thursday in Louisiana, but the massive ship won’t be allowed to scoop oil out of the Gulf of Mexico until it first proves to the government and BP that it can actually do the job.

The 10-story tall, 373-yard long ship, named A Whale, just finished a retrofit at a Lisbon, Portugal, shipyard where it was transformed from a supertanker to a super skimmer, said Chris Coulon, a spokeswoman for the Unified Command.

But A Whale, owned by Taiwan Maritime Transport Co., has never been tested and only just finished its retrofit June 15, Coulon said.

“This is the largest ship of its kind,” Coulon said. “Now we just have to see whether it can do what it’s supposed to do.”

TMT, a Taiwanese company, claims the 12 vents cut into the massive ship’s bow should allow it to scoop as much as 15 million gallons of oily water a day out of the Gulf, Coulon said.

If the vessel works as it should, it will be a great asset. The enterprising owners did not wait for a contract but moved A Whale to the Gulf. Had the giant sat at home and waited for the bureaucratic red tape to clear before moving to the scene, one wonders if either BP or the federal agencies would have taken note. However, A Whale in full view is difficult to ignore.



Thanks to Doug.