mnix
Largest self-propelled oil skimmer in the U.S. is powered by two Caterpillar 3408
DITA engines.
Gladding Hearn Delivers Largest
Self-Propelled U.S. Skimmer To Clean Sound
The North Sounder, reported
to be tfft*ยป largest self-propelled
oil-spill skimmer in the U.S., was
placed in service recently in Se-
attle, Wash., for the protection
of Puget Sound waters by Clean
Sound, an organization of 13
petroleum industry companies.
The North Sounder will be based
in Bellingham, Wash.
The 73-foot vessel joins a fleet
of smaller skimmers, auxiliary
boats, and barges Clean Sound
has stationed at ports through-
out Puget Sound.
Unlike other skimmers oper-
ated by Clean Sound which have
unique or bulky profiles, the
North Sounder looks like a small
Coast Guard buoy tender. When
operating in its oil-spill recovery
mode, the vessel's bow opens to
reveal an escalator-like ramp
leading from under the water
surface and into the mid-hull
area of the boat.
The North Sounder is designed
to recover 90 percent of an oil
spill at rates up to 500 gpm. Its
i*
Profile of the North Sounder.
onboard recovered oil capacity is
12,000 gallons.
"With this addition to the
equipment pool," reported John
Wiechert, manager of Clean
Sound, "our oil industry mem-
bers have invested more than $6
million in equipment in the Puget
Sound area to assure a rapid and
effective response to any oil spill
in the waters of the Sound and
Washington's coastal waters."
The value of the new skimmer
alone exceeds $1.6 million, and
represents the largest single in-
vestment by Clean Sound.
"Because of the North Sound-
er's proven seaworthiness, Clean
Sound can plan for recovery of
spilled oil in our state's offshore
waters," Mr. Wiechert noted.
Several design changes devel-
oped by the Clean Sound staff
have been incorporated in the
North Sounder. The most signif-
icant is an improved method of
recovering oily debris. The debris
catching and handling system
was designed to cope with ma-
terials such as logs, branches,
kelp, eel grass, and other floating
debris.
The North Sounder was de-
signed by JBF Scientific Corpo-
ration of Wilmington, Mass.,
which has designed and deliv-
ered more than 100 oil-skimming
vessels, including 50 harbor skim-
mers for the Navy. Clean Sound's
new skimmer is a JBF model DIP
5001A. Representing JBF at the
ceremony in Seattle was Ralph
A. Bianchi, president.
JBF's oil recovery system uti-
lizes the natural propensity of
oil to float on water that "forces"
a mechanical separation of sur-
face oil from the water. A dy-
namic inclined plane (DIP) in
the bow of the vessel forces oil-
coated water into a collection
well in the vessel's hull under
the surface level. The DIP's mov-
ing belt pushes the oil lower
than its natural level, gravity
then separates it, and the oil
wells-up inside the vessel into a
collection tank. Recovered oil is
continuously pumped from the
collection tank area to onboard
holding tanks or by flexible hose
to a trailing oil barge.
The vessel was constructed by
Gladding-Hearn, of Somerset,
Mass. A contract was let in late
1981, and the vessel was com-
pleted in November 1982.
Because of its traditional hull
design, the North Sounder can
respond to a spill at speeds up to
10.6 knots. During normal oil
skimming operations, it runs at
1 to 2 knots in conditions up to
Sea State 3. It can work alone
or with long containment booms
attached to its bow and towed
in a "V" configuration to funnel
slicks of oil to the recovery sys-
tem.
A unique feature of the design
is an auxiliary control station
at the bow above the oil recovery
machinery which allows opera-
tion of the vessel while monitor-
ing the recovery.
The recovery system consists
of two conveyor units. The de-
bris collection unit is a stainless-
steel conveyor that leads up to
debris collection equipment. The
oil-handling unit is a powered
6-foot-wide by 371/;>-foot-long
polyvinylchloride belt which loads
oil into the vessel's cargo tanks.
The belt is driven by a Char-Lynn
hydraulic motor. The DIP con-
veyor is located in the forward
half of the hull, behind the de-
bris conveyor.
The handling system for the
recovered oil is a progressing
cavity screw pump type, a Moyno
model 1JOKS1-CDQ. It has a
500-gpm capacity with a speed
of zero to 350 rpm and is driven
by a Sundstrand hydraulic mo-
tor.
The vessel has a length of 73
feet, beam of 20 feet, draft (full
load) of 6 feet 3 inches, and dis-
placement of 130 tons. The two
NORTH SOUNDER
Major Suppliers
Main Propulsion . (2) Caterpillar
Reduction Gears Twin Disc
Propellers Federal
Generators Northern Lights
Generator Engines John Deere
Engine Controls Wabco
Steering Char-Lynn
Sanitation System Microphor
Radar Furuno
VHF Cybernet
Depth Indicator . Sandpiper
Scott
Windlass Pine Hill
Coatings Devran, Cathacote
main engines, each driving a Fed-
eral 42-inch four-blade propeller
through a Twin Disc 3:1 reduc-
tor gear box, are Caterpillar mod-
el 3408 DITA units rated at 365
hp each.
Manpower for the North
Sounder as well as other skim-
mers and specialized spill recov-
ery equipment is provided on con-
tract by Foss Launch & Tug Co.
Equipment is stationed in Se-
attle, Tacoma, Anacortes, Blaine,
Bellingham, Edmonds, and Port
Angeles.
Clean Sound is an unincorpo-
rated, nonprofit, joint venture of
oil and oil transportation com-
panies. Members are: American
Tar Company, Atlantic Richfield
Company, Chevron U.S.A., Inc.,
Foss Launch & Tug Company,
Mobil Oil Corporation, Olympic
Pipe Line Company, PRI North-
west, Inc., Shell Oil Company,
Texaco Inc., Time Oil Company,
Transmountain Oil Pipeline
Corp., Union Oil of California,
and U.S. Oil & Refining Company.
Since its founding in 1971 as
one of the nation's first regional
organizations of its type, Clean
Sound has served as a model in
the development of spill recovery
techniques, technical require-
ments for equipment designs,
and of industry training pro-
grams.
A four-page brochure is avail-
able describing Clean Sound. For
a free copy,
Write 52 on Reader Service Card
Thomas Prashun Joins
Trans Freight Lines
Thomas Prashun has been
named corporate maintenance
manager for Trans Freight Lines,
Inc., of Secaucus, N.J., the larg-
est independent carrier in the
North Atlantic trades. The an-
nouncement was made recently
by Donald F. McBeth, senior vice
president, operations.
Mr. Prashun brings many years
of experience in the industry to
TFL. He will be located at TFL
Secaucus headquarters and will
report to Mr. McBeth. Trans
Freight Lines, Inc., is a subsidi-
ary of Thomas Nationwide Trans-
port, Ltd., Australia's largest
transportation conglomerate.
Digital Wave Publishing