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World's largest oil skimmer heads to Gulf spill
Yahoo ^ | June 30, 2010 | TOM BREEN and JAY REEVES

Posted on 06/30/2010 6:57:44 PM PDT by Bad~Rodeo

NEW ORLEANS – With hurricane-whipped waves pushing more oil onto the Gulf of Mexico's once-white beaches, the government pinned its latest cleanup hopes Wednesday on a huge new piece of equipment: the world's largest oil-skimming vessel.

The Taiwanese-flagged former tanker named the "A Whale" is the length of 3 1/2 football fields and stands 10 stories high. It just emerged from an extensive retrofitting to prepare it specifically for the Gulf, where officials hope it will be able to suck up as much as 21 million gallons of oil-fouled water per day.

Crews aboard vessels around the drillship Discoverer ...

"It is absolutely gigantic. It's unbelievable," said Louisiana State University environmental sciences professor Ed Overton, who saw the ship last week in Norfolk, Va.

As the monstrous vessel made its way toward the Gulf Coast, large waves churned up by distant Hurricane Alex left Alabama beaches splattered with oil and tar balls the size of apples. The rough seas forced most smaller skimming boats into port for a second consecutive day, putting many cleanup crews at a standstill.

The ship looks like a typical tanker, but it takes in contaminated water through 12 vents on either side of the bow. The oil is then supposed to be separated from the water and transferred to another vessel. The water is channeled back into the sea.

But the ship has never been tested, and many questions remain about how it will operate. For instance, the seawater retains trace amounts of oil, even after getting filtered, so the Environmental Protection Agency will have to sign off on allowing the treated water back into the Gulf.

"This is a no-brainer," Overton said. "You're bringing in really dirty, oily water and you're putting back much cleaner water."

The vessel, owned by the

(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...


TOPICS: Front Page News; News/Current Events; US: Louisiana
KEYWORDS: bp; oilspill; skimmer
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1 posted on 06/30/2010 6:57:50 PM PDT by Bad~Rodeo
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To: Bad~Rodeo

To all who doubted 0bama: in your face! I told you he was a man of action! But seriously, 71 days in and now this bloody thing heads towards the oil spill, what a joke.


2 posted on 06/30/2010 6:59:30 PM PDT by toddausauras
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To: Bad~Rodeo

>> It just emerged from an extensive retrofitting to prepare it specifically for the Gulf,

Oh. I thought it was just tied up in red tape. /s


3 posted on 06/30/2010 6:59:49 PM PDT by Gene Eric (Your Hope has been redistributed. Here's your Change.)
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To: Bad~Rodeo

Why did it take 72 days for them to send it?


4 posted on 06/30/2010 7:00:10 PM PDT by Jess Kitting
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To: Bad~Rodeo
We obviously still have a healthy trade relationship with Taiwan.

"Sure we'll clean it up ... if we can keep what we capture"

5 posted on 06/30/2010 7:00:42 PM PDT by knarf (I say things that are true ... I have no proof ... but they're true)
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To: Bad~Rodeo
The Taiwanese-flagged former tanker named the "A Whale" is the length of 3 1/2 football fields and stands 10 stories high.

About the size of a cruise ship.

6 posted on 06/30/2010 7:01:39 PM PDT by Pearls Before Swine
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To: Bad~Rodeo

They could have been here 71 days ago! BUT Obama had EVERYTHING under control, don’t you know!


7 posted on 06/30/2010 7:02:20 PM PDT by chicagolady (Mexican Elite say: EXPORT Poverty Let the American Taxpayer foot the bill !)
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To: Bad~Rodeo

“But the ship has never been tested, and many questions remain about how it will operate. For instance, the seawater retains trace amounts of oil, even after getting filtered, so the Environmental Protection Agency will have to sign off on allowing the treated water back into the Gulf.

“This is a no-brainer,” Overton said. “You’re bringing in really dirty, oily water and you’re putting back much cleaner water.””

Not for Dumb’O’s EPA. They’re going to take months to figure that out.


8 posted on 06/30/2010 7:03:13 PM PDT by aquila48
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To: Bad~Rodeo

So Bill Clinton says a few things four days ago and suddenly five or six things change to the positive suddenly? That’s all that had to happen? Man, we need Bill back in office.


9 posted on 06/30/2010 7:03:55 PM PDT by pepsionice
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To: Bad~Rodeo
But the ship has never been tested, and many questions remain about how it will operate. For instance, the seawater retains trace amounts of oil, even after getting filtered, so the Environmental Protection Agency will have to sign off on allowing the treated water back into the Gulf.

Tack on another 90-180 days before it sucks up the first gallon of oil.

10 posted on 06/30/2010 7:05:15 PM PDT by OCC
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To: Jess Kitting

PLEASE tell me you are kidding!

YOUR President said he did not need help. He had it all under control.He refused the help.


11 posted on 06/30/2010 7:05:56 PM PDT by chicagolady (Mexican Elite say: EXPORT Poverty Let the American Taxpayer foot the bill !)
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To: pepsionice
So Bill Clinton says a few things four days ago and suddenly five or six things change to the positive suddenly? That’s all that had to happen? Man, we need Bill back in office.

Never thought I agree to that, but I do. This MF has got to go.

12 posted on 06/30/2010 7:13:08 PM PDT by RedMDer (Throw them all out in 2010... Forward with Confidence! Forward!)
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To: Jess Kitting
Because it did not exist as an oil skimmer 72 days ago. It was an oil supper tanker. The owner spent some big bucks to convert it into a skimmer.

Facts mean something.

13 posted on 06/30/2010 7:18:52 PM PDT by Red_Devil 232 (VietVet - USMC All Ready On The Right? All Ready On The Left? All Ready On The Firing Line!)
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To: pepsionice

Having the bent one back actually sounds good compared to what we have now.


14 posted on 06/30/2010 7:21:42 PM PDT by wally_bert (It's sheer elegance in its simplicity! - The Middleman)
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To: Red_Devil 232
Here it is before conversion.


15 posted on 06/30/2010 7:25:43 PM PDT by UCANSEE2 (The Last Boy Scout)
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To: Bad~Rodeo

Reports state that only 2% of the oil from the BP well leak reaches the surface, and the Corexit injected at the leak site keeps oil from reaching the surface by intention. The A Whale is a welcome addition. How effective it is with various sea wave heights remains to be experienced.


16 posted on 06/30/2010 7:29:08 PM PDT by givemELL (Does Taiwan eet the Criteria to Qualify as an "Overseas Territory of the United States"? by Richar)
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To: Ernest_at_the_Beach

What’s the rush?


17 posted on 06/30/2010 7:29:51 PM PDT by SunkenCiv ("Fools learn from experience. I prefer to learn from the experience of others." -- Otto von Bismarck)
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To: Gene Eric

When the news that the SUPER TANKER ‘A WHALE’ offered to help out, there were pictures of it all over the internet.

THERE ARE NONE, now, that I can find.

I have tried all kinds of searches.

Isn’t that odd?


18 posted on 06/30/2010 7:31:42 PM PDT by UCANSEE2 (The Last Boy Scout)
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To: Red_Devil 232
It was an oil supper tanker

Well, it's going to have oil for supper, and breakfast, and lunch now.

19 posted on 06/30/2010 7:34:20 PM PDT by UCANSEE2 (The Last Boy Scout)
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To: SunkenCiv; Ernest_at_the_Beach
Too little and too late. It'll be delayed more by the storm in the gulf.

This is the 'Night Day they drove Old Dixie down'.
20 posted on 06/30/2010 7:39:49 PM PDT by BIGLOOK (Keelhaul Congress!)
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