Catamar, an innovative anti-pollution vessel designed to clean up floating ocean debris and oil spills, took to the seas of of western France earlier this year. Designed and built by ecoceane, the ship employs new methods for both hydrocarbon and solid waste recovery.
Previous technology employs skimmers, built into outrigger booms at each side of the ship. The booms thicken the layer of oil sitting atop the water as the ship moves forward and the skimmers collect it. Speeds are generally limited to 1.5 knots, beyond which the wake created by the vessel’s bow interferes with the ability of the side skimmers to function. This method of collection also tends to emulsify spilled oil, creating a mixture of tiny oil droplets suspended in a much larger volume of water.
Catamar works more like a vacuum cleaner, with booms mounted at the front of the vessel to thicken the layer of oil without interference from the bow wake. A turbine draws oil and water through the ship without creating an emulsion, thus making it easier to separate oil from water. This method allows the ship to the work in recovery mode at a much higher 4.5 knots. According to ecoceane, Catamar can cover as much or more ocean area in one hour than earlier methods could cover in a day. Equipped with oil detection radar, the ship can work 24 hours a day.
For minor spills, the ship has internal storage for recovered hydrocarbons, For larger spills a separate, towed barge can add 1000 cu meters of hydrocarbon storage.
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