Testing The A-Whale: For What Exactly ?

Testing the A-Whale, which is dealing with an inconclusive verdict to “testing” the EPA imposed over the weekend. Choppy seas are blamed for the uncertain result, though it hasn’t been published what exactly is being tested. If it’s the EPA standard of 15 parts per million of oil being decanted, the guess here is the A-Whale won’t pass that test because no skimmer could.

So exactly what is the EPA testing for? If the A-Whale can remove one barrel of oil from the Gulf of Mexico, isn’t that ok with everybody? It’s one less barrel the pelicans don’t need to sop up.

Bureaucracies, are so stupid aren’t they? They must be stocked with a bunch of porn watching numb buts.

Seems to me it’s a cost issue only, EPA need not apply. Hasn’t the EPA done enough damage to the Gulf already? Nixon was a fool to create this pile of bureaucratic crap.

Unfortunately, decanting skimmers, like the A-Whale do not work well with the aged tarball oil seen washing up on beaches. Their best use is with fresh oil, you know, like day one skimmers. That Obowma fellow sure does talk pretty, does little.

“A Whale” Testing Has Begun

And exactly what are they testing for? Does anybody think that if the “A Whale” can do anything to reduce the oil floating in the Gulf that would be a bad outcome? Well, except for dumb brain dead BIG GOVERNMENT stooges like those found at the EPA … Is the EPA worried the ship might stir up the oil? What exactly are they testing for?

A converted tanker billed as the world’s largest oil skimmer is being tested in the Gulf of Mexico, where officials hope it will scrub millions of gallons of oil-tainted seawater. Frank Maisano, spokesman for the Taiwanese shipping firm that owns the vessel, dubbed “A Whale,” confirmed Saturday that tests have begun.

The Skimmer Ship “A Whale” Arrives In The Gulf For Tests

UPDATE: “A Whale” has reached the Louisiana coast, oil spill site. Now awaiting the seas to calm before beginning tests.

The 1,100-foot-long ore and oil carrier, dubbed the “A Whale,” is being provided by the owner, TMT Shipping of Taiwan, Chris Coulon, a spokeswoman for the Gulf oil spill joint incident command said.

The vessel was converted in Portugal to skim spilled oil from the sea and was anchored in the Mississippi River north of Venice, Louisiana on Thursday. It has been described as a “super skimmer” because it can scoop up millions of gallons of oily water mix every day, much more than skimming vessels already in use. It is reported by the ship’s captain to be able to skim up about 500,000 barrels of oil a day. So far all the skimmers in the Gulf have been able to skim up a little over 600,000 barrels of oil.

Rough seas and winds caused by Hurricane Alex, which went ashore in northeastern Mexico late Wednesday, were delaying plans to test the new skimmer. “They can’t do their testing until the weather has died down,” Coulon said. “They are in close contact with ship owners to proceed with testing as soon as the weather permits.”

So someone has told them to allow testing. I wonder was it a pelican that told the EPA, look dumb-ass, I would rather have 99% of the oil out of the Gulf, rather than leave it all there. Do you think ground up oiled pelicans are what we want to become?

“A Whale” Of A Skimmer

Obamaspill Day 69, the ship “A Whale” is headed to the Gulf. No word on whether the ship and non-union crew has the necessary permits and waivers from our massively incompetent federal bureaucracy yet.

“A Whale,” billed as the largest oil skimmer vessel in the world, is seen docked at Norfolk International Terminal on Thursday, June 24, 2010. It was to set sail today for the Gulf area, where it hopes it can be put into use with BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill cleanup efforts.

The picture below shows the oil skimming intake ports on the bow, six per side:

Huge Oil-Skimming Ship Makes Virginia Stop En route To Gulf of Mexico

Hey it’s only day 68, what’s the hurry. Obama should be golfing.

Extra credit question, to think about as you read this article, isn’t it time we ignore the EPA and just try anything that might work? Common sense, something bureaucracies lack in large quantity.

And why weren’t skimmers worldwide called into duty by the ‘day one’ Obama crew? Didn’t Obama know his own EPA says the secret to cleaning up oil spills is to never let the oil reach the beaches or estuaries. Oh yeah, the Jones Act thing, that Bush waived almost immediately after Katrina. Obama had to get clearance from his union buddies. The whole claptrap Jones Act should be repealed.

If only someone at the federal government had a brain …

Skimmer ship “A Whale” at a dock in Virginia.

But it’s not a done deal yet — A massive oil-skimming ship is headed for the Gulf:

“The ship — the length of 3 1/2 football fields (about a 1000 feet) and 10 stories high — is designed to collect up to 500,000 barrels of oily water a day through 12 vents on either side of its bow. It docked in Norfolk en route to the Gulf from Portugal, where it was retrofitted to skim the seas. The ship and its crew of 32 were to leave Virginia waters Friday evening.

The owners of the “A Whale” said the ship features a new skimming approach that has never been attempted on such a large scale. They are anxious to put it to its first test in the Gulf.

The converted oil tanker has the capacity of holding 2 million barrels, but would limit its holding tanks to 1 million barrels for environmental reasons. Oil skimmed up by the tanker would be separated from seawater, then transferred to another vessel.

Its owners claim the ship could gulp oily water at a daily rate that nearly matches the skimming total to date in the Gulf.

Nobu Su, CEO and founder of TMT group, compared the massive ship to a whale scooping up small fish. He said cappuccino-colored oily water would be processed through several tanks to extract oil the color of espresso.

He said the ship was engineered to skim oil shortly after its construction in South Korea this year after he recognized the “catastrophic” oil spill would require extraordinary measures.

“I believe this spill is unprecedented and you need an unprecedented solution,” said T.K. Ong, senior vice president for TMT.”

The ship will need a Jones Act waiver, EPA approval, and review by a “number of government agencies” before it could begin work. According to the article, it will take 3 days for the ship to travel from Virginia to the Gulf and they hope to have approvals by then.

Photos at the link above.