oil spill preparedness

Watch: How waste cooking oil product absorbs oil spill

Oil spill is a major form of pollution and has negative impacts upon the marine environment. In order to face its affects, scientists from Flinders University in Adelaide along with the Australian Government and other collaborators, developed a material which can absorb oil spills.

In fact, the “sustainable polysulfides” product is made from waste cooking oil and sulphur and can soak up three times its mass in oil or diesel.

Moreover, the “sponge” material is hydrophobic since it avoids water and...

https://safety4sea.com/watch-how-waste-cooking-oil-product-absorbs-oil-spill/

Oil from sunken barge in Galapagos causes concerns

A situation involving a sunken barge in the Galapagos Islands which was carrying 600 gallons of diesel is under control but authorities are ‘very concerned’ about the vessel’s recovery, said Ecuador’s environment minister, Raul Ledesma.

The barge sank on 23 December, after a crane at the La Predial dock of San Cristobal, at the Galapagos archipelago, fell while unloading cargo, according to data by Ecuador’s navy as cited by Reuters.

The crane was taking off a container holding an electricity...

https://safety4sea.com/oil-from-sunken-barge-in-galapagos-causes-concerns/

Chemical herders improve oil spill cleanup, researchers report

Oil spill is a serious form of pollution, threatening the oceans and the wildlife, making the cleanup operations a major priority. Thus, researchers from the Johns Hopkins University discussed how chemical herders can facilitate the concentration of an oil slick on water.

Specifically, the three researchers, Lakshmana Chandrala, Franz O’Meally and Joseph Katz, speaking during the American Physical Society’s Division of Fluid Dynamics 72nd Annual Meeting addressed the importance of using chemical...

https://safety4sea.com/chemical-herders-improve-oil-spill-cleanup-researchers-report/

USCG deals with three oil spills

The US Coast Guard had to deal with three oil spill responses on Monday, October 28, in three different parts of the US, trying to save the environment and the wildlife from the fatal impacts of an oil spill.

According to the Coast Guard’s statements, an oil sheen was seen in Breton Sound, Block 37, Louisiana. The oil sheen resulted from a damaged and inactive wellhead owned by Texas Petroleum Investment Company (TPIC).

For the time being, the well is producing a mix of oil, water and mud. The...

https://safety4sea.com/uscg-deals-with-three-oil-spills/

Golden Ray’s oil is being monitored

The USCG announced that they will continue their attempts to keep the marine environment safe in the area where Golden Ray grounded, as following the improved weather conditions on-water response has resumed and lightering operations have already removed 200,000 gallons of fuel from the vessel.

Specifically, the 200,000 gallons of fuel oil removed from the vessel are allegedly the two-thirds of the total.

Recently, NOAA commented that

The vessel has had several discharges of oil over the past...

https://safety4sea.com/golden-rays-oil-is-being-monitored/

Stress test assesses European response for large oil spill in the Atlantic

A number of European countries, EMSA and French experts collaborated from 2 to 4 October, at the French Maritime Prefecture for the Atlantic, in order to engage in a large-scale joint simulation exercise, testing their collective response capabilities in the event of a large scale oil spill in the Atlantic.

The exercise testes different intervention strategies for large-scale pollution response. The result of each could be measured using a tool developed specifically for the purpose of...

https://safety4sea.com/stress-test-assesses-european-response-for-large-oil-spill-in-the-atlantic/

Operations continue to mitigate oil spill from Golden Ray

The St. Simons Sound Incident Unified Command (UC) informed that it has divers working in order to find and secure the source of an oil spill that took place from the ro-ro Golden Ray on October 1.

As of now, a salvage operation is trying to lighter the ship, having already removed more than 106,101 gallons of fuel.

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Namely, using skimming vessels, the workers are attempting to recover oil from the water. In the meantime, survey teams are monitoring the...

https://safety4sea.com/operations-continue-to-mitigate-oil-spill-from-golden-ray/

Spill recovery operations continue at Jamie Whitten Lock

The USCG continues oil spill recovery operations, responding to a crude oil discharge located within the Jamie Whitten Lock at mile marker 412 on the Tennessee Tombigbee Waterway, Wednesday, September 11. Up to now the cause of the oil spill remains unknown.

The USCG was informed for the oil spill on Sunday, September 8, after an unknown amount of crude oil was discharged from a damaged crude oil barge owned by Savage Inland Marine.

The damaged cargo vessel on the barge had about 321,000 gallons...

https://safety4sea.com/spill-recovery-operations-continue-at-jamie-whitten-lock/

Oil spill prevention activities for Pacific expanded

An IMO-supported international centre responsible for coordinating efforts to prevent oil spills and protect the marine environment in the north-west Pacific Ocean is to expand its areas of work, following a high-level meeting in Seoul on 28-30 August.

MERRAC (the Marine Environmental Emergency Preparedness and Response Regional Activity Centre), is the focus for cooperation between China, Japan, the Republic of Korea and the Russian Federation on preventing spills and ensuring an effective...

https://safety4sea.com/oil-spill-prevention-activities-for-pacific-expanded/

Petrobras informs of oil leak from refinery

Petrobras informed that on 26th of August, it detected a leakage of about 5 cubic meters of oily waste in the industrial waste treatment plant of the Abreu e Lima Refinery (Rnest). This comes after 1.2 cubic meter of residual oil leaked from the FPSO ‘Cidade do Rio de Janeiro’, at the Espadarte field in Brazil, during the weekend.

As Petrobras noted, a small amount of oil reached a stream that passes through the refinery internal grounds.

However, the leak is under control, while safety and...

https://safety4sea.com/petrobras-informs-of-oil-leak-from-refinery/

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