U.S. Navy Ship Salvage Manual Volume 6 - Oil Spill Response

S0300-A6-MAN-060NOSCDR equipment is maintained ready for immediate use by the local On-Scene OperationsTeam(s).3-6.2 Logistics. Those intimately involved often characterize response to a major oil spill aslogistics, logistics and more logistics problem solving. The same people always make the twopoints: that equipment must be identified quickly and get to the scene as soon as possible. Allaspects of the transportation network must be considered; barges and other support vessels areoften overlooked and not available.The U.S. Navy Emergency Ship Salvage Material Catalog, NAVSEA 0994-LP-017-3010, containsa complete description of oil pollution and response equipment in the ESSM system. Themanual contains technical descriptions of equipment, photographs and data such as dimensionsand weights useful for transporting system components. This information is invaluable to thosecharged with transporting, staging or handling response equipment. Similar documentationshould be sought for equipment provided by other sources.Trucks or aircraft transport ESSM (or similar) material depending upon distance to the scene andavailability of materials handling equipment (MHE) at the destination. Trucking skimmers andother large items from the ESSM bases to almost any coastal port in CONUS is as fast as air transportation.Although time in the air may be only a few hours, repeated handling, examining andrestowing removes most, if not all, of the expected time savings.The transportation method, particularly air, affects the equipment selected for the initial shipment.The first plane should contain enough equipment to get a skimming or booming operation underway.A C-5A with a cargo capacity of 226,000 pounds can carry one modular Class V skimmer,two boom handling boats, several vans and additional ancillary equipment. Alternatively, theseaircraft may carry three nonmodular skimmers. Because of the width of these units, little spaceremains for additional equipment. C-141 aircraft with a cargo capacity of 64,200 pounds cancarry three-quarters of a modular skimming system. Figure 3-7 shows typical stowage arrangementsfor a C-5A aircraft.Stored equipment complies with published Air Force and FAA requirements for air transportation.Special handling requirements for fuel, storage batteries, compressed gases and other potentiallyhazardous materials should be discussed with Air Force officials when arranging flight forESSM equipment. In general, fuel tanks must be empty, engine-starting batteries disconnectedand compressed gas cylinders isolated. Compliance with these requirements may adverselyimpact initial operations in remote areas. For example, special arrangements may be required toget fuel for skimmers, boom handling boats and auxiliary equipment. When strict compliancewith transportation regulations may inhibit the operation, exceptions can be made.Transportation by truck is more flexible. Trucks can move out as soon as they are loaded and documentationprepared. Additional trucks cost much less than additional aircraft. It is faster andmore economical to put additional trucks in service than it is to put additional aircraft in service.On arrival at the spill site, trucks unload their cargo at the waterfront, operations area or storagearea—even when transported by air, the first and last legs of the journey will be by truck. When3-21