Tests of the Shell sock skimmer aboard USNS Powhatan. Final report

The Spilled Oil Containment Kit (SOCK), developed by Shell Development Company, was tested in a controlled crude oil dumping off the New Jersey Coast in early 1980. The skimmer had been designed as a physical attachment to an oil industry work boat in a vessel-of-opportunity deployment mode. The United States Naval Ship (USNS) Powhatan T-ATF fleet tug was chosen as a similar vessel and one that had an oil spill recovery operation mode. The test program is described, including the oil/water distribution and collection system, deployment and retrieval of the SOCK, the onboard fluid measurement, data analysis, logistics, weather and environment measurements, and the Powhatan/SOCK interface. The light crude oil and ocean water collected were stored aboard the vessel and decanted; the emulsified oil was later sold as waste oil. Eight experimental crude oil dumps are described and analyzed. The sea conditions varied from calm to 1.8-m significant wave heights. During the 6 days at sea, 50cu m of oil were dumped, and the skimmer collected 32 m of oil. The program is analyzed for future improvements to open ocean testing plans incorporating oil skimmers with and without vessels of opportunity.