MSRC completes Gulf of Mexico oil spill response expansion

March 2, 2012
The Marine Spill Response Corp. (MSRC) said it completed the Gulf of Mexico expansion program known as Deep Blue to respond to an oil spill incident, if necessary, and MRSC has arranged contracts with Edison Chouest Offshore and Hornbeck Offshore Serivces to modify additional equipment.

The Marine Spill Response Corp. (MSRC) said it completed the Gulf of Mexico expansion program known as Deep Blue to respond to an oil spill incident, if necessary, and MRSC has arranged contracts with Edison Chouest Offshore and Hornbeck Offshore Serivces to modify additional equipment.

MSRC repositioned one of its 210-ft Oil Spill Response Vessels (OSRV) from the Atlantic Coast to Port Fourchon, La. That OSRV is named the Deep Blue Responder.

OSRVs have temporary storage for recovered oil and have the ability to separate oil and water aboard ship using oil-water separation systems. To enable the OSRV to sustain cleanup operations, recovered oil is transferred into other vessels or barges.

MSRC now has seven OSRVs positioned within 60 hr of deepwater Gulf of Mexico operations. In addition, it has five storage barges in the gulf as dedicated skimming barges that are staged from Ingleside, Tex., to Tampa, Fla.

The contract with Edison Chouest Offshore and Hornbeck Offshore Services are to modify five platform supply vessels and multipurpose support vessels for potential use as OSRVs.

MSRC, founded in 1990, is the largest standby oil spill and emergency response company in the US. The not-for-profit MSRC is financed by the Marine Preservation Association through its member oil companies.