Domain: tiger-web1.srvr.media3.us Enviromental Battleship | Oil Spill
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Enviromental Battleship

Posted on 5/28/10 at 3:03 pm
Posted by blueslover
deeper than deep south
Member since Sep 2007
22792 posts
Posted on 5/28/10 at 3:03 pm
$100mil too spendy for the '90s, $200mil now seems cheap...

They drew up a plan and a prototype for a 275ft by 217ft, 33-storey-high vessel that could be deployed to a spill site within 18 hours, encircle the slick with 20ft-high booms as used in the turbulent North Sea, sweep and clean 20,000 barrels of oil every 24 hours via three circular sweepers 40ft in diameter, return the water to the sea and transfer the salvaged crude to barges moored alongside.

The prototype model, housed in the gymnasium of the former New Iberia school where Mr Schell­stede has his offices, resembles a semi-submersible oil rig, like the offshore fire ships that have been deployed in the North Sea since the 1980s.

The detailed prospectus for the so-called Sea Clean project, a copy of which he provided to the Financial Times, was presented to some 300 government officials, industry leaders and the press at a meeting in Anchorage, Alaska, in 1990.

It was also presented to congressmen in Washington, including Al Gore – then a senator – with whom Mr Schellstede had a two-hour meeting. “I don’t think I ever got over to him what was wrong – that it was a deepwater problem. Deepwater was just starting. I looked for government support to propose it to the oil companies. I told them, ‘We’ve a got a different frontier here. It’s a different ball game and we need other tools.’ ”

Exxon and other oil companies expressed enthusiasm for the project but turned it down on cost grounds, according to Mr Schellstede, and because it addressed a problem they did not believe existed.

“They concluded it was a wonderful design but they couldn’t invest $100m in it. They might have been right. We went a long time without any problems.”

more

more from the designing company

1. Semisubmersible, propeller-driven pods are used to support an above water platform, permitting stability and maneuverability in rough seas.
2. Self-propelelled allowing maneuvering close to sources of spilled waste.
3. Permits skimming from smooth or rough seas and processing of spilled material within environmental guidelines.
4. Engineered to segregate waste into six categories: oil, wood, rubber, plastic, cam waste, and soil (including rocks, sand and clay)
5. Safely houses a cleanup crew of more than 200, including operating from an on-board command post containing testing laboratories and satellite communication facilities for teleconferences and remote monitoring.
Posted by YatTigah
Lakeview, New Orleans, LA
Member since May 2010
517 posts
Posted on 5/28/10 at 3:06 pm to
well i sure am glad that the next poor pricks that this happens to will prolly have a fleet of these fricking boats
Posted by guttata
prairieville
Member since Feb 2006
22647 posts
Posted on 5/28/10 at 3:10 pm to
If you were a stockholder in a company, would you vote to spend $100 million on a boat that may, or may not ever be used. I wouldn't.
Posted by BROffshoreTigerFan
Edmond, OK
Member since Oct 2007
10004 posts
Posted on 5/28/10 at 3:19 pm to
When this is all said and done with that would have saved BP over a billion dollars. Give or take several million.
Posted by guttata
prairieville
Member since Feb 2006
22647 posts
Posted on 5/28/10 at 3:22 pm to
doubt it.
Posted by C
Houston
Member since Dec 2007
28201 posts
Posted on 5/28/10 at 4:37 pm to
Does oil from more than a mile down actual rise to the same place on the surface of the ocean? Seems like you would a ton of turbulence that would disperse the oil across a large area before ever reaching the surface.
Posted by TenTex
Member since Jan 2008
15949 posts
Posted on 5/28/10 at 4:42 pm to
It's Toyota all over again. Don't spend any money on fixing or preparing for a problem, just take the hit when it happens and deal with it then.
Posted by LC412000
Any location where a plane flies
Member since Mar 2004
16673 posts
Posted on 5/28/10 at 4:50 pm to
quote:

It was also presented to congressmen in Washington, including Al Gore – then a senator – with whom Mr Schellstede had a two-hour meeting. “I don’t think I ever got over to him what was wrong


I think at the time Gore was creating and building the Internet and then later was worried how much heat was going to burn up his tulips to worry about something like this.
Posted by tiger in the gump
Member since Jan 2005
795 posts
Posted on 5/29/10 at 3:58 pm to
quote:

f you were a stockholder in a company, would you vote to spend $100 million on a boat that may, or may not ever be used. I wouldn't.



basic risk management, everything is based on what may or may not happen. How do you think those same stockholders feel now? $100M is nothing compared to what they're losing
Posted by adono
River Ridge
Member since Sep 2003
7307 posts
Posted on 5/29/10 at 6:15 pm to
quote:

When this is all said and done with that would have saved BP over a billion dollars.


A billion dollars, my arse.

This problem will cost over $20 billion, if it cost a nickle.

The Valdez cost Exxon $3.5 billion in 1989 dollars ($6.3 billion with adjusted inflation). The Horizon spill will certainly exceed the Valdez many times over.
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