Balaena, LLC of Orange, Texas has produced a new form of oil collection technology. The Balaena Express vessel has been in development for about 10 years and draws from experiences the team had cleaning up the Alvenus oil spill in 1984 and the Macondo spill in 2010. The vessel is different from other skimming technology because it uses ambient water to transfer the floating oil. It can be both a stationary skimmer and a self-propelled recovery vessel. It can store and transport the oil collected and discharge the recovered oil to transport barges if the spill is larger than its capacity. I applaud this important development in oil spill technology and look forward to its use in the future.
Courtesy of Robert Nichols
Texas State Senator
