BP’s Ignorant Attitude Surprises Belgians

[Robbien]

The Belgian dredging companies DEME and Jan De Nul are struggling to understand why BP and the US authorities have not called on them in the wake of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

They already made propositions to BP and the US Army Corps of Engineers last month to help in sealing the leak and cleaning up the oil spill, but did not meet with a positive response. BP wanted to try use its own technology, with the first partial results of that only coming a month and a half after the start of what is gradually becoming one of the greatest environmental disasters ever. Every day half of the around 19,000 barrels of oil escaping is still flowing into the surrounding waters.

The Belgian dredgers say that the entire operation could have been executed much more rapidly using the sophisticated vessels that they have. Jan De Nul and DEME proposed to BP that their fall pipe vessels be used, which are unique ships equipped with a two kilometre long fall pipe that are normally used to dump rock at great depths when laying pipelines on the seabed. ‘The diameter of the pipe on such a ship is much broader than the funnel BP is now using to suck up the oil,’ says Noel Pille of Jan De Nul.

‘That means we can collect more oil, which can be pumped underwater into an oil tanker. Moreover, at the bottom of the fall pipe there is a type of unmanned submarine, which can perform tasks at great depths. With our assistance the entire process could have been speeded up greatly.’ Both dredging companies also proposed to the US authorities to construct sand and stone barriers using their giant dredging vessels in order to protect the coastal wetlands from the encroaching oil. ‘We could do that in half the time and at a lower price,’ says Pille. Both Jan De Nul and DEME also own vessels that can suck up oil slicks at a depth of 500 feet, as well as vessels that can skim oil off the surface.

The companies say that the fact that the Americans have not accepted their proposed assistance is down to two reasons – that the US authorities are reluctant to admit that somebody else has better equipment and the protection of the American market through the protectionist 1920 Jones Act, prohibiting foreign dredging companies from operating in US waters.

http://www.dredgingtoday.com/2010/06/11/bps-ignorant-attitude-surprises-belgians/

[gateley]

1. We hear so many stories like this, I'm wondering how far these requests make

it up the chain of command over here?

If the leaders of those countries put in a call directly to Obama and spoke with him about it, maybe something would be done. I wonder how much info he's actually getting.

[pscot]

2. Jimmy Carter would have known

Just sayin'.

[gateley]

3. I can't think of how many times I've thought of him over the past month. I know

I'm not the only one.

[pscot]

5. It is a little spooky

But Carter was a very smart, liberal engineer. Engineers understand how things work. You can't fool a good engineer. We need one now.

[Robbien]

4. BP's eyes have been solely on the hole in the ground

BP never has had to clean up its messes and has no clue on how to go about it. And it appears they don't care to learn.