Deepwater Horizon Disaster Navy Response & Beyond American ...

Deepwater Horizon Disaster
Navy Response & Beyond
American Society of Naval Engineers
11 February 2011
U.S. Navy
Supervisor of Salvage and Diving
NAVSEA 00C
Mike Herb, CAPT USN (ret)
Director of Salvage Operations
www.supsalv.org
1

SUPSALV Deepwater Horizon Response
� Spill Response
� Mobilization
� Operations
AGENDA
� Lessons Learned
� DWH Technical Support
� DWH Underwater Survey
� DWH Potential Evidence Recovery
2

Deepwater Horizon Task
� SFA – 10 US Code Section 7361
• SUPSALV is DoD rep to NRT
� USN/USCG IAA of SEP ‘80
281622Z APR 10
FM: COGARD MSU MORGAN CITY LA
TO: CNO WASHINGTON DC
SUBJ: REQ FOR USN SUPSALV ASSIST ISO RESPONSE TO SUNKEN MODU
DEEPWATER HORIZON AND ONGOING POLLUTION INCIDENT IN GULF OF
MEXICO
1. FEDERAL ON-SCENE COORDINATOR (OSC), USCG SECTOR NEW ORLEANS, REQUESTS
IMMED USN SUPERVISOR OF SALVAGE (SUPSALV), SUPPORT IN RESPONSE TO SUNKEN
MODU DEEPWATER HORIZON AND ONGOING POLLUTION INCIDENT IN GULF OF MEXICO.
2. SUPPORT IN FOLLOWING AREAS: OIL SPILL CONTROL AND RECOVERY EQUIPMENT, AS
WELL AS OPERATING PERSONNEL.
3. ADDITIONAL SALVAGE, DIVING, ROV SVCS AND/OR CONSULTATION MAY ALSO BE
REQUIRED AS SITUATION DEVELOPS.
3

� 4/20/10: Rig explodes and
burns
SUPSALV Response Timeline
� 50 miles offshore SW LA.
� Eleven workers killed.
� 4/22/10: Rig sinks
� 4,900 FSW
� 1,300 ft from wellhead.
� 4/27/10: USCG requests
SUPSALV support -
SUPSALV/ESSM begin prep
work.
� 4/28/10: Written request
and funding rcvd –
equipment rolls
� 4/29/10: First equipment
arrives in Gulfport, MS
� 4/30/10: National Incident
Commander named
• Declared SONS
4

Equipment arriving and
staged on pier in Gulfport
State Pier - Gulfport, MS
SUPSALV Command and
Control, Gulfport, MS.
5

Gulfport, MS
SUPSALV Response Timeline
4/30/10: First boom
deployed offshore.
Ship Island
04 May – 13 Star
interest in Gulfport
42” Ocean Boom from
M/V JOHN COGHILL
42’ ocean boom near
western tip of Ship Island
cascaded in 1000 foot
deflection sections.

SUPSALV Booming Operations
OSV John COGHILL w/ ocean boom
off of Mobile Bay, AL
26” Boom anchored between
well heads in East Bay, LA
�73,000 feet of boom - Pensacola, FL,
Pascagoula, MS, Dauphin Isl. AL,
Ship Isl. MS, East Bay, LA, Breton
Isl. LA, and New Harbor Isl. LA.
“Boom Wars”
National Commission Report to the President
Ocean boom mooring system
7

SUPSALV Booming Operations
� Deflection and containment boom strategy matured over the course of
the operation.
� Political pressure, drove attempts to block flow of oil into bays, gulfs
and rivers … BAD IDEA
� Entrainment ~ 1 Knot; Boom Failure at ~4 knots
Mobile Bay Channel booming plan from mid May.
High current load resulted in damaged booms and
dragging anchors
Bay St Louis booming plan on 8 July designed to
capture oil without putting undue stress on booms.
Strategy Notes:
1. Deflect and capture boom
2. Use local skimmers to recover
captured oil
Legend
Current local boom placement
Future local boom placement
4000’ of 18” Navy Boom
8

SUPSALV Booming Operations
�ALL boom entrains at about 0.7kts, larger boom just makes a bigger wedge
�Because of entrainment you must “deflect and collect”
9

� 6 May – Began ocean skimming ops. Deployed OSV VANGUARD with
two High Speed Vessel of Opportunity Skimmer Systems (VOSS)
* NOFI Current Buster Effective Daily
Recovery Capacity ~ 1,996 barrels/day
NOTE – based on pump capacity
SUPSALV Skimming Operations
Oil collected in VOSS pocket being
pumped to VANGUARD’s mud tanks.
10

Off-Shore VOSS Skimming
� By mid operation (June) using three OSVs
� 2 VOSS Current Busters
� 1 Class XI VOSS skimmer.
� Max product recovered in a single day was > 1600 barrels.
Debris collected in
pocket required regular
cleaning of pumps
11

SUPSALV Near-shore Skimming Operations
� 11 May – Directed to ship Alaska
MK V Skimmers to GOM
� 23 May – Moved several MARCO
skimmers to Grand Island, LA.
� 8 June – Began putting Marco
Class V Skimmers to sea in
search of oil.
� Total of 18 Class Vs deployed:
� Panama City, FL
� Pensacola, FL
� Pascagoula, MS
� Gulfport, MS
� Ship Island, MS
� Bayou LaBatre, AL
� Slidell, LA
� Venice, LA
* Class V Effective Daily
Recovery Capacity ~ 1,234
barrels/day
NOTE – based on pump capacity
Marco skimmer w/ 2 vessels of opportunity
north of Mississippi barrier islands
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SEA 00C’s Near-shore Skimming Operations
Two Vessels of Opportunity (VOO)
pulling a Marco Class V skimmer off
the Mississippi coast.
Oil coming off sorbent filter belt
on a MARCO Class V Skimmer.
Marco skimmer being serviced on
stern deck of OSV Bayou Bee.
13

SUPSALV Response Operation
As of 31 July:
� 96,000 ft. Boom in GOM + 73,000 ft. deployed
� 18 MARCO Skimmers
� 5 VOSS Skimmers
� 130+ Personnel Deployed
� 200+ Truck Loads of Equipment
14

Proven Model For Rapid Deployment
� Ready to Deploy: Salvage & Oil Pollution Response Systems
� Ready to Support: Operators & Maintainers
� Fleet Salvage and Diving Force Enabler

Booming Ops
MARCO Skimmer
Skimmer on barge
Off-shore VOSS Skimming
As of 1200, 21 June
Whiskey Isl
Disposition of SUPSALV Resources – ICP Houma
Grand Isl / Port Fourchon:
4 Class V Skimmers (G.I.)
18,000’ 42” boom on land (P.F.)
2,000’ 18” boom on land (P.F.)
5 Salvage Skim Van w/o boom
1 Command Van
1 Shop Van
1 Rigging Van
2 Cleaning Vans
Timbalier Isl
Slidell:
4 Class V Skimmers on
spud barge
4 Boom Handling Boats
Port Fourchon
Venice:
4,400’ 42” boom on land
400’ 26” boom on land
3 Salvage Skim Van w/o boom
1 Command Van
1 Shop Van
1 Bunk Van
1 Rigging Van
Grand Isle
5000’ 26” boom
Half Moon Isl.
17,000’ 42” boom
New Harbor Isl.
4000’ 26”
boom
Breton Isl.
5600’ 26” boom
East Bay
19,600’ 42” boom
North Pass
5000’ 26” boom
OSV RENE w/ 1-VOSS (Class XI)
OSV VANGUARD w/ 2-VOSS
OSV JOHN COGHILL w/ 2-VOSS
Deepwater
Horizon
site
16

Gulfport Staging
8,000’ 18” boom on land
Command and Work Vans
Auxiliary Equip
2 Class V Skimmer
GULFPORT
Disposition of SUPSALV Resources – ICP Mobile
Ship Isl.
7000’ 42” boom
Bayou La
Batre
MOBILE
PASCAGOULA PENSACOLA
Dauphin Isl.
TF5 - 1 Class V
Skimmer w/ Barge
PECOS Barge
2 Class V Skimmers
TF2 - 1 Class V
Skimmer w/ Barge
TF4 - 1 Class V
Skimmer w/ Barge
TF3 - 1 Class V
Skimmer w/ Barge
TF1 - 1 Class V
Skimmer
w/Barge
NOTE: All TFs and PECOS operating 1-10NM off barrier islands
Destin
TF1’ - 1 Class V
Skimmer
As of 1200, 21 June
Booming Ops
MARCO Skimmer
Skimmer on barge
Off-shore VOSS Skimming
Panama
City
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Command and Control Organization
Tech Support
(Houston, TX)
NIC
Unified Area Command
(UAC)
(Robert, LA)
SUPSALV Command Center
Gulfport, MS
Unified Incident Command
(Houma, LA)
Operations
SUPSALV
Federal Resources
Unified Incident Command
(Mobile, AL)
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Total Product Recovered (Barrels)
30,000
25,000
20,000
15,000
10,000
5,000
0
Rough
Weather
Encountered
VOSS Vessels supporting
large boom herding and
standing off during
seismic testing
Decanting
SUPSALV Total Product Recovered
OSV Bayou Bee begins
servicing MARCO
skimmers
SUPSALV DEEPWATER HORIZON OIL SPILL RESPONSE
Standing off for seismic testing
Oil Stopped Flowing - 7/15/2010
Hurricane Alex and high waves
5/16/2010 5/23/2010 5/30/2010 6/6/2010 6/13/2010 6/20/2010 6/27/2010 7/4/2010 7/11/2010 7/18/2010 7/25/2010 8/1/2010 8/8/2010 8/15/2010
VOSS
MARCO
Total
OSVs Awaiting IC Tasking
OSVs inport to ride out TS Bonnie
2 of 3 OSVs beginning demob
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Leased Vessels supporting operations:
� OSV John Coghill – Supports laying of oil containment boom
� OSV Wes Bordelon - Supports laying of oil containment boom
� OSV Vanguard – supports off-shore VOSS Skimming operations
� Resolve Spud Barge – supporting skimming ops
� OSV Bayou Bee – Supporting MARCO skimmer Maintenance
ICP contracted Oil Supply
Vessels (OSV) underway (right)
deploying 42” Oil Containment
Boom.
SUPSALV Operations
OSV Bayou Bee which was
contracted to support
maintenance on the 18
MARCO skimmers.
MARCO skimming system deck
loaded on Resolve barge for to
support deployment positioning
requirements. Barge can safely
transport and store skimmers
over unprotected waters
20

� Jun 17 – First use of Coast Guard established DECOM station. (clean up overturned
MARCO skimmer)
� Jul 15 - BP installed capping stack – halts leak from well.
� Jul 29 - began demobilization of 2 of 3 OSVs
� Aug 8 - First 2 MARCO skimmers ordered to demobilize
� Sep 2 – BP attempting to remove failed blow out preventer for inspection
� Sep 13 – Received UAC concurrence to redeploy all skimmer systems. Boom
removal, equipment decontamination, and staging for shipment in process.
� Sept 20 – Issued final SITREP. Equipment which has finished DECOM being sent
back to ESSM bases.
� 4 Oct – Last of staff and boom depart GOM operations area.
Boom undergoing
decontamination
Winding Down – Major Events
21

Redeployment and Replace/Refurbishment
� 16 Aug - Received permission from UAC to begin DECOM of all Skimmers.
� Replacement of Assets beyond economical repair - process
� SUPSALV Procure VS Replacement in Kind by BP
� Inspection & certification process for refurbish or replace
Damaged
boom
Boom washed ashore/buried
during TS Bonnie
22

Lessons Learned
� Skimmer/boom hardware and deployment L/L
� Best use of assets – Operational knowledge
� Hurricanes vs. Oil Spills
� Federal Asset coordination – good at UAC, less so at ICPs
� Avoid spreading geographically
� Keep co-located w/ SUPSALV
� Turn-over re-education every 2 weeks - SUPSALV CONOPS distributed w/
equipment capabilities, strategies and logistics � SUPSALV/ESSM rep at ICP
� Supporting in/near-shore Skimmers with off shore assignments – employ
barges capable of hoisting � OSVs better
� NOFI Current Buster VOSS �
� Badging Process – UAC/IAC & Sites – all different and changing.
� Booming Strategy in high current areas.
� Lack of site study, Entrainment at 1KT
� Class V Skimmer OPS
� Transit Times / Air Spotting
� Dispersal – Use of OSV vs Barges
� Logistics Requirement (Crew and Craft)
� Asset Saturation and Visibility
� Good Idea Club a distraction –
� IATAP resolved
Capsized MARCO Class V Skimmer
23

� USCG/DOJ Request
� 20 Aug – 06 Sep: 4
SUPSALV personnel
spread
� Houston
� Discover Enterprise
� Q-4000
Tech Support for BOP LMRP Recovery,
Reentry and Preservation Procedures
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DWH Drill Platform ROV Survey
� Coast Guard Office of Investigation and
Casualty Analysis requested detailed video
inspection of the sunken DWH oil rig.
� SUPSALV deployed Deep Drone ROV and
XBOT (mini ROV) on OSV GENIE LAB
� Conducted 11 dives during 28 Sep – 3 Oct
period
� Deep Drone bottom time: 66 Hours
� XBOT bottom time: 8 Hours
25

Potential DWH Evidence Recovery
� DOJ interested in
recovery feasibility:
� Bridge section ~ 200
Tons
� 2 ROV OPS huts ~ 5
Tons ea
� DWH MODU ~ 53K
Tons
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Questions?
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