A Whale Explained

Cosmo Ace, formerly A Whale and Madison Orca,[1] is a Liberian-flagged ore-oil carrier built in 2010 by Hyundai Heavy Industries, Ulsan, South Korea for TMT Co. Ltd. (formerly Taiwan Maritime Transport Co. Ltd.) from the Republic of China (Taiwan). She has seven other sister ships in the fleet, built in 2010-2011 and named in succession: B Whale, C Whale etc., to H Whale.[2]

Oil skimming experiments

She was refitted and converted in Portugal into a skimmer to assist in the cleanup of the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill in Gulf of Mexico, near the Mississippi River Delta, Louisiana. The ship's owners stated that A Whale is capable of separating 300000to of oil per day, while storing the crude and returning the processed sea water to the sea.[3]

A Whale arrived in the Gulf of Mexico on 30 June 2010, while financial agreements were yet pending.[4] However, in two weeks of testing A Whale collected virtually no oil. TMT stated that the ship's poor performance was due to the dispersion of oil in the Gulf.[5]

On July 16, the Coast Guard announced it would not be authorized to join the containment process because tests had shown that its oil skimming capabilities were "negligible" in comparison to the other more nimble and much smaller skimmers in the containment.[6]

Service history

In early 2013, the A Whale became stranded due to a technical problem off Suez. The ship's crew remained stranded for six months without pay, exacerbated by owner TMT's bankruptcy filing in June, before eventually receiving supplies and some of their backpay in July.[7] That August the ship was allegedly fired on by Libyan Marine Special Forces, according to a video posted on their Facebook page, as it attempted to enter the Es Sider terminal.[8]

In 2014 the ship was renamed to Madison Orca and transferred to Monarch Vessel Holdings Corporation. As of December 2020, operated by Suntech Maritime, it is in active service as the Cosmo Ace.[9]

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: COSMO ACE, Crude Oil Tanker - Details and Current Position . VesselFinder . 16 December 2020 . 29 November 2020.
  2. Web site: Our Fleet . NOS Management . 18 June 2010 . 13 July 2012 . https://web.archive.org/web/20120312003432/http://www.nosship.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=50&Itemid=61 . 12 March 2012 . dead .
  3. News: McClay . Rebecca L. . BP tests Taiwanese oil-skimming ship . MarketWatch . 4 July 2010 . 9 September 2010.
  4. News: Gulf Oil Spill: 'A Whale' Of A Skimmer Offers Up Its Services . The Huffington Post . 29 June 2010 . 3 July 2010 . Dan . Froomkin . https://web.archive.org/web/20100703001339/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/06/29/gulf-oil-spill-a-whale-of_n_629575.html . 3 July 2010 . live .
  5. News: Giant 'super skimmer' no help with Gulf oil spill . https://web.archive.org/web/20100722131244/http://af.reuters.com/article/energyOilNews/idAFN1614683620100716 . dead . 22 July 2010 . Reuters . 16 July 2010 . 9 September 2010.
  6. Web site: "A Whale" Operational Review Completed . Restore the Gulf . Deepwater Horizon Incident Joint Information Center . 17 July 2010 . 5 April 2012 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20120916045930/http://www.restorethegulf.gov/release/2010/07/17/whale-operational-review-completed . 16 September 2012 .
  7. Web site: Flag-State Liberia Helps Out Stranded 'A Whale' Crew . 12 July 2013 . 16 December 2020 . Tradewinds.
  8. 22 August 2013 . Libyan Forces Alleged to Have Fired at Oil Tanker . https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211215/0sI7uUIsXek . 2021-12-15 . live. Wall Street Journal .
  9. Web site: Our fleet . Suntech Maritime . 16 December 2020 .

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