Muffin Monsters Help BP Oil Spill Vessels Keep Working

By JWC Environmental

In the first weeks of the BP oil spill, T&T Marine Salvage arrived on scene quickly to skim and recover oil near the site of the Deepwater Horizon sinking. Then a setback — their massive offshore vessels ran into an issue when seaweed and trash started clogging pipelines and valves onboard the ship.

“We recognized there was a problem quickly,” said Mike Popa, a Response Manager for T&T Marine of Galveston, Texas, one of the nation’s leading marine response companies. “We had high-capacity hydraulic pumps attached to the arm of an excavator but on board the vessel the 4” (100mm) pipeline valves would become clogged with seaweed, sticks and trash.”

Once a valve or pipeline clogged on the 224’ (70m) offshore vessel (OSV) the entire pumping operation shut down — a frustrating setback during the intense pressure of the clean-up operation.