Marine Well Containment Co. (MWCC) has taken delivery of a Aframax tanker, the Eagle Texas, to add to its expanded oil spill containment system that will be operational in 2012.
The tanker, to be operated by AET Tanker Holdings, soon will undergo extensive conversion and modification before taking up duties in the Gulf of Mexico.
A not-for-profit, stand-alone organization, MWCC is working to improve industry’s capabilities to contain a potential underwater well control incident in the gulf.
MWCC has an interim containment system currently available for deployment. It consists of MWCC-owned equipment along with access to mutual aid vessels and equipment.
The expanded containment system will include the Eagle Texas tanker along with one other dedicated capture vessel.
Modular process equipment onboard the capture vessels will separate the oil and gas, store the oil, and flare the gas. Oil will be offloaded to shuttle tankers.
MWCC’s expanded system is being built for use in 10,000 ft of water with the capacity to process as much as 100,000 b/d of liquids and as much as 200 MMscfd of gas.
