This past weekend the Coast Guard and BP tested the oil tanker, called “A Whale” and owned by Taiwan Maritime Transport Co. Ltd., that has been modified to skim oil. It was tested for safety and environmental standards before being put into service. The test results should be released today. The Whale can reportedly collect almost 10,000 barrels a day. Read more.
Note: I hate to be the downer on this, but BP is already collecting, by their estimates, 25,000 barrels a day at the site. When the Helix platform is deployed on Wednesday, that capacity will be doubled. BP’s well is spewing roughly 70,000 bbls per day. The Whale will be filled every day to capacity and need to be dumped somewhere. It’s better than nothing, but one Whale isn’t enough.
