Gothenburg Introduces Oil Spill Robot
A new robot has been introduced at the Port of Gothenburg in Sweden to deploy booms in the event of an oil spill. The new technology is designed to improve the speed and safety of spill response operations.
The Port of Gothenburg is home to the largest energy port in Scandinavia. Crude oil is brought in and refined into petrol, diesel, asphalt and other products.
In the event of a spill, it is most important that the oil is contained as quickly as possible to allow clearance to begin, says Dan-Erik Andersson, Head of Operations at the Energy Port in Gothenburg.
The robot is an automatic GPS-controlled boom that can be activated by a press button in the port’s office. A torpedo-like unmanned craft then travels around the dock towing a 400-meter-long (1,300 feet) boom. The automatic boom is made of plastic and sits half a meter (1.5 feet) below water and 20 cm (eight inches) above water.
“The robot tows the boom from one pier to another. It could be said that it forms a large bag in which the oil is collected.” said Andersson. “The oil can then be taken up safely and without any time pressure. From an environmental point of view it is important to act quickly in the event of an oil spill, and with this technique we can save a lot of valuable time.”
The robot takes approximately 10 minutes to contain a spill compared to half an hour when the booms are towed by boat. “These are valuable minutes if we are to limit the spill as much as possible,” says Andersson.
“The new oil boom system can handle every conceivable oil spill in the Energy Port. Initially, we will use it in our inner energy ports, Skarvik and Rya. In time, our hope is that we can also use the new system at the Tor Harbour, where we have our deepest berths and where the largest tankers can moor,” says Andersson.
The robot was built by the Gothenburg-based company SP Marine, with the port playing an active role in the development process. The project began five years ago.
“It has taken a long time to adapt the robot to the conditions in the Göta Älv River and at the Energy Port, and that is why it feels particularly gratifying now that development has been completed,” said Andersson.
Similar robots are used in Malmö and are being developed in Stenungsund. Up to now this technology is unique to Sweden.