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

Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Response
operating area. They returned to port due to unsettled weather and on 15 May returned to sea
and reported to the Mississippi Canyon 252 (site of the well head) for assignment. On 16 May
OSV VANGUARD received assignment to an area with oil pooled on the surface and
successfully deployed starboard current buster skimming system at 12:30 and reported that its
pocket began filling immediately. OSV VANGUARD and her crew worked offshore for the next 3
months. She was joined by OSV JOHN COGHILL on 25 May also equipped with two High
Speed Current Busters. The Class XI VOSS skimmer was initially installed on SEA SCOUT but
the vessel proved unsuitable for the Marco Class XI system due to inability to weld in the area
needed for the crane installation. In addition, the crane was damaged during testing. On 31 May
a replacement vessel, OSV RENE, was identified to support Class XI operations and placed on
hire by ICC Houma. OSV RENE completed Class XI installation, refueled and deployed to
Mississippi Canyon 252 on 5 June. Over the course of the operation, these vessels and
systems proved to be quite effective, collecting 21,176 barrels of product.
Figure 5-10. OSV VANGUARD pulling two NOFI High Speed Current
Busters on the afternoon of 28 May, 2010. The port side NOFI is deployed
with an outrigger assembly and the starboard side NOFI is employing a
paravane to hold the boom open.
The crews experienced very satisfactory results, with the highest product recovery rates
occurring during the period 12 June through 28 June. During those 16 days more than 11,400
barrels of oil were recovered by the three SUPSALV VOSS ships. This period of high
productivity ended with the arrival of Hurricane Alex. After the weather settled, the ships again
successfully collected significant quantities of oil until the leak was secured on 15 July.
5-11