Archive for the ‘Gulf Blowout & Clean-up’ Category

“A Whale” turns out to be a minnow …

July 19, 2010

OK, I was sucked in by the hype.

The super-skimmer “A Whale” – whose deployment was delayed by the union-protecting Jones Act — was supposed to be capable of pulling 50,000 barrels of oil from the Gulf waters every day.

In tests, it skimmed approximately no oil from the Gulf.

‘All we found in the tanks was water … it was very ineffective.’

Bummer.

* * * * *

Excerpted from Reuters: ‘Super skimmer’ a giant bust in Gulf cleanup, July 16, 2010

A Taiwanese-owned “super skimmer” sent to help clean up the Gulf of Mexico oil spill has been a bust, the U.S. Coast Guard said after tests on the ship.

“While its stature is impressive, ‘A Whale’ is not ideally suited to the needs of this response.”

The tanker collected virtually no oil in two weeks of tests.

“All we found in the tanks was water, so it was very ineffective.”

Full article:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38283782/ns/disaster_in_the_gulf/

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Why are gas prices artificially high on the the East Coast ?

July 1, 2010

This was a reply to our post on the Super Skimmer that’s been kept out of the Gulf clean-up.

A different twist on the now famous Jones Act that I thought was pretty interesting.

The Jones Act also plays a part in higher gasoline and diesel prices on the East Coast.

The US East Coast doesn’t have enough refining capacity to meet in sitsu needs and must bring in fuel from the Gulf Coast or foreign markets. The pipelines from Texas and Louisiana are full and Jones Act ships are fairly small and carry higher per cargo unit operating costs compared to internationally flagged vessels.

Therefore ~25% of the gasoline sold along the East Coast is imported from Europe and the Caribbean.

Seems like changes in the Jones Act on this issue could create more jobs for refiners and longshoremen in the US, reduce the total carbon footprint of a gallon of gasoline and reduce fuel prices by a few cents per gallon.

Thanks to MSB MBA alum Chris H.

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Super skimmer kept out of the Gulf … score another for the unions.

June 29, 2010

This is nuts.

A skimmer capable gathering more oil in a day than has been collected to date in the Gulf is being kept out of the action because of the union-protectionist Jone’s Act.

Makes sense since Louisiana voted for McCain and the unions voted for Obama.

* * * * *

Excerpted from AP: Super skimmer stops in Virginia while waiting for clearance to work in Gulf, June 28th, 2010

With no assurances it will be allowed to join the Gulf of Mexico oil spill cleanup, a Taiwanese-owned ship billed as the world’s largest skimming vessel is docked in Norfolk, VA ready to join the Gulf clean-op effort.

The ship—the length of 3 1/2 football fields and 10 stories high—is designed to collect up to 500,000 barrels of oily water a day.

The company is still negotiating with the Coast Guard to join the cleanup and does not have a contract with BP to perform cleanup work. The company also needs environmental approval and waiver of a nearly century-old Jones law aimed at protecting U.S. union interests.

Environmental Protection Agency approval is required because some of the seawater returned to the Gulf would have traces of oil.

The Coast Guard, which has received more than 2,000 cleanup proposals, said the supertanker skimmer had survived a preliminary review and was being studied further.

The converted oil tanker has the capacity of holding 2 million barrels, but would limit its holding tanks to 1 million barrels for environmental reasons. Oil skimmed up by the tanker would be separated from seawater, then transferred to another vessel.

Its owners claim the ship could gulp oily water at a daily rate that nearly matches the skimming total to date in the Gulf.

“This spill is unprecedented and you need an unprecedented solution.“

Full article:
http://dailycaller.com/2010/06/28/super-skimmer-stops-in-virginia-while-waiting-for-clearance-to-work-in-gulf/

Posted in Gulf Blowout & Clean-up | 3 Comments »

Oops on the Gulf: The perils of cash businesses …

June 22, 2010

A lot of attention has been focused on the Gulf’s claims process.

Prevalent question: why does it take so long for BP to  pay claims against lost earnings ?

Should be simple, right?

Just submit your 2009 1040 tax return as substantiation of your normal year’s income.

Oops. 

Heard a commentator make a passing observation: “most of these are cash businesses – they don’t keep a lot of records”.

English translation: they don’t report all of their income for tax purposes … so if they just submit tax returns, they won’t get paid for all of their earnings.

Horns of a dilemma: substantiate all earnings and risk getting busted for tax evasion … or take less than your full earnings in a claims settlement.

I think this is called collateral damage.

Let’s see if & when the mainstream media catches onto this one …

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Keep your non-union skimmers away from the Gulf (continued)

June 21, 2010

Last week, several sources reported that Team Obama was repelling foreign nation’s offers of high capacity skimming vessels. 

Why ? Because the ships and barges were made outside the U.S., possibly with non-union labor – and barred by the Jones Act.

Here’s the WSJ’s recap …

* * * * *

JUNE 19, 2010 The President Does a Jones Act
Why Obama turned down foreign ships to clean up the Gulf.

President Obama has repeatedly said his Administration is doing everything in its power to expedite the oil clean-up and mitigate the damage.

But in the two weeks immediately after the spill, 13 foreign governments reached out and offered their assistance.

The U.S. State Department response?

“While there is no need right now that the U.S. cannot meet, the U.S. Coast Guard is assessing these offers of assistance to see if there will be something which we will need in the near future.”

The Belgian dredging group DEME says it has offered the U.S. specialized vessels and technology that can help clean up the spill in three to four months compared to the estimated nine months that the U.S. will need.

There are only a handful of these vessels in the world, and most of them belong to Dutch and Belgian companies. So why aren’t we calling on them?

Blame it on the protectionist Merchant Marine Act of 1920, also called the Jones Act, that requires ships working in U.S. waters to be built, operated and owned by Americans — unions don’t want ships built with foreign labor to be used in U.S. waters.

Presidents can suspend the Jones Act in emergencies, as George W. Bush did after Hurricane Katrina. But the Obama Administration continues to maintain that this isn’t necessary.

There’s no excuse for turning away ships that can clean up the oil merely because that might offend Mr. Obama’s union friends.

Full article:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704324304575306881766723718.html?mod=djemEditorialPage_h

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“Keep your non-union oil skimmers out of our Gulf” … huh

June 18, 2010

“We’ve been doing everything we can since Day 1”

Oh really ?

Except for letting other nations send their oil skimming fleets to the Gulf.

Team O has turned down offers from the Dutch (on day 3), the Swedes, the Saudis, and the Mexicans.

Why ?

The Jones Act prohibits foreign flagged ships from our waters – except for single port loading or unloading of freight or people. It’s “an antiquated 1920 law mandating that goods shipped between U.S. ports be handled by U.S.-built and -owned ships manned by U.S. crews.”

Why the Jones Act?  Because unions say so.

Unions fiercely support the law as a means of preserving U.S. jobs.

Bush waived the Jones Act in the first week of Katrina.

Obama refuses waive it for the Gulf clean-up to because his union base says no.

Politics trumps clean-up.

Surprised ?

For more details:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704198004575310800313251666.html?mod=djemEditorialPage_h

Posted in Gulf Blowout & Clean-up, Obama Administration | 1 Comment »