Sea Empress: French Navy involvement
On
the 20th February 1996, just five days after the Sea Empress went
aground, the Port Admiral’s Office in Brest (PréMar
Atlantique) offered to send two Navy vessels with response equipment
to help their British colleagues in Wales.
The
British Authorities immediately accepted this offer of assistance.
The supply ship Ailette and the regional support vessel Elan set
sail from Brest on the morning of the 21st February 1996 with a
full complement of responders.
Both
the Ailette and the Elan had multipurpose equipment for lightering,
recovery/skimming, storage and dispersant spraying. Apart from the
crew, CEPPOL, CEDRE and Brest Port Authorities seconded support
personnel to the operation.
Responders on the deck of the Ailette (Source: Cedre).
The
Port Admiral entrusted management and co-ordination of the response
operation to the OIC of CEPPOL who was on board the Ailette.
MPCU
(Marine Pollution Control Unit) allocated response jobs to both
vessels on the scene of operations.
The
British Authorities availed themselves of the French recovery systems
for eight days running during which 2,500 tonnes of emulsion were
recovered and stored on board the Ailette.
The
TRANSREC 250 was fielded for the very first time in an operational
setting and responded very well in the circumstances.
The
TRANSREC was deployed in sea states 4 and 5 and achieved nominal
performance. Manoeuvrability was excellent and only one responder
was needed to operate the system. There can be no doubt that the
TRANSREC is in a class of its own for high capacity recovery.
The
oil to be pumped was very viscous (20,000 cSt) with a water content
of about 80%.
Both
the Ailette and the Elan manoeuvre very well. Their propulsion systems
are very flexible which makes for quick and easy boom deployment
and positioning.
Transrec
recovering oil from the cod end (Source: Cedre).
| AILETTE |
|---|
| -
TRANSREC 250 skimmer - two hydraulic power packs - a TK5 (190 cu.m per hr) lightering pump - two dispersant spray booms - 30 cu. m. third generation dispersant - 110 m ALL MARITIM boom - 150 m POLLUGUARD boom - two bunker reheating systems - two power packs - 140 m hose pipes - TRANSREC-TK5 pump adapter |
| ÉLAN | |
|---|---|
| -
two dispersant spray booms - 12 cu. m. of third generation dispersant |
|
Deploying the Transrec (Source: Cedre).
This assignment proved beyond the shadow of a doubt that a real live operation bears no comparison with a standard pollution exercise as it requires a lot of time and dedication from the crewmembers involved in the response operation.
The assignment of the French Navy vessels in Wales taught us a great deal in itself. It will be a precursor for better international co-operation.
In all likelihood, this assignment will set new standards for people’s hopes and expectations in addition to promoting cross boundary co-operation in the field of pollution response which in the future will be available more readily and as often as needed.
Last update: July 2003