U.S. NAVY SALVAGE REPORT DEEPWATER HORIZON ... - ESSM

Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Response
Chapter 4 - Mobilization
SUPSALV initially directed deployment from ESSM Cheatham, VA and ESSM Port Hueneme,
CA. Trucks began rolling on 27 April and without specific guidance, the intended destination was
Houma, LA, the site of the UAC. En route, SUPSALV was told their destination was Gulfport,
MS but not specifically where. The SUPSALV advance team made arrangements with the Naval
Construction Battalion Center, Gulfport to take delivery but by the time the first trucks were
arriving, the Coast Guard had negotiated for space at the State Pier in Gulfport to which the
remainder of the trucks were diverted.
4-1 Initial Mobilization
SUPSALV initially responded with the deployment of 66,000 feet of oil containment boom, 2
salvage skimmer vans, 9 boom handling / tow boats, 1 High Speed Skimmer System (VOSS
Current Buster) and 7 modular MARCO MK V skimmers. Other equipment included 4 shop and
rigging vans, 2 command vans, 4 bunk vans, 4 work boats and 45 boom mooring systems. This
represented a total of 57 truckloads from Port Hueneme and Cheatham ESSM bases. The trip
from Cheatham generally took 2 days and from the west coast, 3 days. On 30 April, the order
was placed for 9 wide-body skimmers, 5 from Cheatham and 4 from Port Hueneme. These wide
loads were delayed while permits were arranged for interstate travel. The 30 April order
represented an additional 18 truck loads.
By default, the equipment destination was State Pier, Gulfport but in some instances, where
allocation assignments had already been made, trucks were diverted to Venice, Louisiana, ICP
Houma’s staging area. ESSM’s transport was effective and by 4 May, 79 of 85 truckloads had
arrived in-theater and by 6 May all of the originally shipped equipment has been received and
staged at the designated locations throughout the Gulf Coast per USCG direction.
Figure 4-1. ESSM equipment sitting on trailers recently arrived at State Pier, Gulfport,
MS on 2 May waiting to be unloaded.
Additional equipment was ordered as SUPSALV identified the need to bring the gear into the
Gulf. On 1 May, additional mooring systems were ordered. By 10 May, the number of MARCO
4-1