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On January 7, severe weather broke MSC M/V Rena in two with the bow section firmly wedged on the reef. By January 10, the stern section stayed perched on the edge of the Astrolabe Reef with about 95% submerged, including the bridge, and a few days later slid off the reef and submerged totally. Aerial observation flights confirmed on January 12 a dark metallic sheen of around 600m by 200m within a larger lighter sheen stretching for about ten kms from the wreck. Observers noted these patches of oil appeared to be breaking down naturally in the swells and churning seas. The oil trajectory modelling predicted it was likely to reach beaches at Little Waihi and Pukehina that said, these modelling predictions change with the currents and weather conditions.

Three months earlier, on October 5, 2011 at 02:20, the M/V Rena struck the Astrolabe Reef whilst sailing from the New Zealand’s North Island port city of Napier to Tauranga. Onboard the stricken vessel was 1,368 containers of which twenty contained hazardous materials such as cryolite, a toxic chemical used as a pesticide, insecticide etc. and is a colorless material that disappears in water due to the proximity of their refractive indices. The M/V Rena also was carrying 1,700 tons heavy fuel-oil and over 200 tons of marine diesel fuel. The initial accident revealed that the vessel had sustained significant damage with large cracks in the hull that eventually split the vessel in two.

The weather in early October continued to hamper rescue and oil spill clean-up operations and a large, approx. five km, oil slick was visible. Six days later, on October 11, New Zealand’s Minister for the Environment and Minister Responsible for Climate Change Issues, Hon. Dr. Nick Smith declared the M/V Rena to be New Zealand’s worst ever maritime environment disaster. On January 8, the vessel split in two, leaving a separation distance of approx. 30 meters between the fore and aft of the vessel, the water surrounding was murky due to powder milk being spilled from a container.

Maritime New Zealand (MNZ), formerly Maritime Safety Authority, is the lead agency for the coordination of clean-up efforts and salvage in the M/V Rena grounding and subsequent spill. Overall MNZ’s responsibilities include maritime safety, security and marine environment protection for the country.

MNZ alerted all rescue, salvage and clean-up operators in the area including the New Zealand Defence Forces. Support also came from Australia (AMSA) and Singapore to name a few. Lamor was the only oil spill equipment supplier on-scene in Tauranga to assist MNZ and the many outside agencies that responded to this incident.

Lamor’s VP Global Business, Steve Reilly, was on scene and filed this report:

”We were there soon after it happened and worked with the various responders on the water in Tauranga harbor and in the staging areas to ensure all the Lamor equipment and vessels were ready to go. The weather was very difficult for the first week and the response was focused on  several key areas and along the beautiful beaches of Bay of Plenty. Two of the Lamor JBF 420 vessels that MNZ acquired several years ago were in great condition and worked mostly in the harbor area every day.” (READ FULL ARTICLE IN NEWSREEL 1/2012)

In late 2011, Lamor delivered to Gazprom Neft Shelf a 19m multipurpose vessel that will ultimately be used for the company’s oil spill response operations in the Barents Sea. The new vessel has been christened ‘Krab’ (Russian for crab).

The oil recovery vessel with the built-in oil recovery system LORS on both sides was designed and custom built specifically for Gazprom Neft Shelf, a full owned member company of Russian giant Gazprom. The multi-purpose vessel Krab will stay over winter in the docks in St.Petersburg and in the spring 2012 venture to its final destination, the Prirazlomnoye offshore oil field in the Barents Sea.

“In addition to oil recovery, our vessel can also be used as a multi-purpose vessel for boom deployment, dispersant spraying, service tasks and as a safety patrol boat,” explains Lamor’s Nikolai Kildishov, VP Russia & CIS.

Kildishov highlights some of the vessel’s benefits: “The vessel has hull mounted brush packs, which enables recovered oil to be delivered directly to the recovered oil storage tanks in the mid-ship without the need of using oil transfer pumps,” he says.

“Another great advantage is that the brush conveyors are in direct connection with the oil on the water surface which notably improves the high viscous oil and debris collection capabilities, but also collecting of light oils in Arctic conditions. Moreover, the vessel is built according to ice class Ice 2 and certified by the Russian Maritime Register of Sippng (RMRS),” Kildishov highlights enthusiastically.

In addition to the oil recovery vessel, Lamor also delivered earlier to Gazprom Neft Shelf two Landing Crafts LC9000 with cabins and a rubber inflatable boat as well as Bow Collectors to be fitted on already existing workboats. “We also provided four kms of oil containment booms and a boom washing machine,” explains Kildishov.

In the State of Qatar the principal organization for oil spill response is Qatar Petroleum’s (QP) Oil Spill & Emergency Response Department (OS&ERD). It is responsible for state wide oil spill response operations including but not limited to oil spill preparedness, combat and recovery operations for Qatar Petroleum, and the areas assigned under responsibility of the State of Qatar.

That said, in the event of an oil spill in Doha Port, the Doha Port Management Company is responsible for responding to an oil spill and clean-up operation. OS&ERD monitors the operations and provides necessary support when needed.

During Q1 2011 Qatar Petroleum issued a tender for the supply of skilled personnel, services including supervision, management, in the form oil spill manpower support. The requirement stipulated that the winning bidder would be responsible for operating and maintaining all of OS&ERD oil spill recovery equipment. In cooperation with its local partner, IECO Petroleum Services, Lamor Corporation was the successful bidder for the three year contract.

In its scope of work Lamor has delivered management, supervisors, senior oil spill responders, oil spill responders and maintenance staff who will work in cooperation with OS&ERD staff. During any future oil spill incident, Lamor personnel will be involved directly as a part of the OS&ERD operation.

The OS&ERD is responsible for all offshore oil recovery and clean-up operations, which include Halul Island and various QP platforms coupled with the North Field. In addition to covering offshore assets OS&ERD must also respond to land based oil spill recovery and clean-up operations at the following locations: Dukhan operational area, Ras Laffan Industrial City, Mesaieed Industrial City, QP Refinery and any area affected by an oil spill incident.

Text: Geraint Richards

A pine oil slick was heading towards Finland from Sweden across the Gulf of Bothnia. Shortly before Christmas approx. 800 mᵌ of pine oil spilled into the Baltic Sea from the Arizona Chemicals refinery on the eastern coast of Sweden in Sandarne. The Swedish Coast Guard (SCG) deployed their OSR vessels, equipment and personnel and in a single day approx. 140 mᵌ of pine oil was recovered. SCG spokesperson stated that Lamor’s in-built brush skimmers (LORS) fitted on SCG’s vessel KBV 002 were well suited also for this type of oil recovery operations.

An approx. two km long and 600 m wide pine oil slick was heading towards Finland’s western coast. The Finnish Coast Guard deployed YAG Louhi and Linja to tackle the oil slick. YAG Louhi is Finland’s newest OSR vessel equipped with Lamor’s LORS in-built oil recovery system. That said, operations were halted when the OSR vessels encountered hurricane strength winds and heavy seas in the Baltic Sea and Gulf of Bothnia. After the storms subsided, the oil slick had dispersed and air surveillance is searching the western coast of Finland for any remnants or signs of the slick.

Pine oil has not been analyzed thoroughly about the risks, but when spilled in these quantities it can threaten eco-systems and wildlife. The oil is used in aromatherapy, as bath scent oils, in cleaning products, etc. The oil is acquired by steam distillation of needles, twigs and cones from a variety of species of pine at refineries such as the Arizona Chemicals refinery in Sandarne which is the largest pine oil refinery in the world.

Text: Thomas Barbieri

Danish authorities had informed SCG the day before that there had been a ship collision outside the Danish west coast and that one of the ships was leaking oil. That said, the collision between the cargo vessel from Malta and a Belgian fishing boat had occurred a few days earlier, but had not been reported to authorities since damage seemed minor at the time, until oil began to leak. The harsh weather conditions in the area complicated and hampered OSR operations and the Danish authorities were able to recover approx. 60 mᵌ of oil.

Hurricane winds and choppy seas carried the oil slick to the Swedish coast which was deemed thereafter to be one of the worst to affect the area in over 20 years. The Swedish Coast Guard worked in close cooperation with the local rescue service and the Swedish Sea Rescue Society (SSRS) also contributing by means of ships, booms and personnel.

In Operation Kyrkesund, SCG’s response vessels, oil recovery vessels for shallow waters and skimmers were deployed coupled with a large amount of booms to contain the oil. Moreover, OSR vessel KBV 050, which belongs to SCG, was also deployed to the area. KBV 050 is fitted with Lamor in-built oil recovery systems, LORS, as well as several of the workboats used in Operation Kyrkesund were equipped with Lamor Bow Collectors. The OSR responders effectively and efficiently recovered a total of 644 mᵌ of oil.

Meet us at Offshore Arabia being held in Dubai over 27-29 February 2012. At our stand, #704 & 721, we proudly have our experts Geraint Richards and Peter Rigby who moreover are included amongst the visionary speakers at the Conference. The 7th Offshore Arabia 2012 Conference & Exhibition theme is “Offshore Oil Spill Prevention and Response through New Technology and International Cooperation”.

This prestigious international marine and environment conference and exhibition is to be held under the patronage of HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid AL Maktoum Vice President & Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai.

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