TMT Group Chariman Nobu Su (right) explains the skimming process to Virginia Secretary of Transportation Sean T. Connaughton.
Norfolk – The world's largest oil skimming vessel, dubbed "A" Whale, made a stop at The Port of Virginia on Friday, June 25, to showcase its capabilities to industry officials, the media, U.S. Coast Guard officials and the Virginia Secretary of Transportation, Sean T. Connaughton, before steaming to its final destination, the U.S. Gulf Coast.
The vessel, which was built in 2010, is owned and operated by TMT Group, a multinational shipping/offshore company group based in Asia. The vessel is classed by Lloyd's Register as the largest oil skimmer vessel ever devised.
Originally designed to be one of the largest cargo vessels afloat, the double-hulled, 319,000 DWT vessel had just been completed at a South Korean shipyard for the purpose of transporting crude oil and iron ore across the high seas. When the Gulf disaster unfolded, TMT saw an opportunity to create of the world's first large-scale skimmer.
After oily water is skimmed from the surface it is pumped through a series of large internal tanks that successively decant the mixture, separating the oil from water through gravity until separated. In the final stage, the filtered water can be returned to the ocean while the heavy oil residue is transferred to tankers for storage and final disposition.
The vessel can process up to 500,000 barrels of oily water per 8-10 hour cycle. The vessel departed for The Gulf late Friday evening.
The Virginia Port Authority provided the vessel's berth space and event hosting for TMT.
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