It seems Kevin Costner has been way ahead of the oil companies and his 15 year long $24 million dollar oil skimming boat is on the way to the gulf.
Oil skimmer backed by Kevin Costner ready for work
Actor Kevin Costner, co-founder of Ocean Therapy, and BP COO Doug Suttles, right, talk during the announcement that the Ella G. vessel to will be deployed carrying Ocean Therapy's centrifuge system to separate oil and water,
Kevin Costner added a bit of Hollywood glitz, but it was the bright orange barge full of equipment counted on to scoop oil from the Gulf of Mexico that was the real star Thursday.
The Ella G, once an offshore supply barge, has been refitted to skim and separate oil spilling from BP PLC's blown-out well, making for a more efficient way to remove petroleum from the Gulf waters. It set sail for the first time Thursday.
"I know a lot of times you have been down on the ground and stayed down," Costner told workers and visitors who had come to see the latest in the fight against the oil spill. "But the machine I once dreamed of is here to help you."
The ship is now one of BP's "Vessels of Opportunity." It was retrofitted to receive oil and water from the skimmer, separate the oil and place it in storage tanks, and return the cleaned water to the Gulf, said Ed Dufrene, project manager for Edison Chouest Offshore, which supplied the barge and assembled the equipment on it.
The system was built in 10 days, and BP chief operating officer Doug Suttles said it offers many advantages. For instance, it can remove more oil, stay at sea indefinitely and skim in seas up to 10 feet. Most skimming vessels can't work in seas higher than 4 feet.
"It can make a big difference," Suttles said.
The Ella G, along with the C Rover, will configure boom in a J shape between them, Dufrene said. That will funnel the oil to the bright, yellow skimmer, which floats out from the Ella G attached to tubing and can skim more than 1 million gallons of liquid a day.
The oil is sent through a centrifuge system on the ship that separates the oil and water. Normally, the oily water has to be taken to a receiving point for separation, so doing that at sea is more efficient.
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