Oil Recovery
Arctia Icebreaking Oy offers oil spill response preparedness services to the European Maritime Safety Agency.
Arctia's icebreaker Kontio has been equipped to serve as an oil-recovery vessel.
Arctia is also interested in upgrading its other icebreakers into oil-recovery vessels. Particularly in winter, icebreakers work at crossing points for merchant vessel traffic. Equipping them as oil-recovery vessels would significantly enhance current preparedness.
The Kontio's tanks can hold over 2,000 m3 of collected oil and it has two separate oil collection systems. One of the oil collection systems is based on rigid sweeping arms, which float next to the vessel's hull and guide the oil into the oil recovery system.
The oil collectors attached to the rigid sweeping arms can be either skimmers or brush skimmers. The oil collector type depends on the qualities of the oil to be collected. With its rigid sweeping arms, the vessel has a sweeping breadth of over 48 metres.
The other collection system consists of a heavy, inflated open-sea boom, which an assisting vessel tows in a J-shaped configuration to the side of the main vessel.
A radio-controlled robotic skimmer is laid inside the J-shaped curve alongside the vessel's hull. The skimmer collects oil from the bottom of the boom curve as the two vessels move slowly ahead. The skimmer can also be used in winter conditions. This self-powered oil recovery system runs on a dedicated hydraulic power unit.
Depending on the receiver's capacity, the Kontio's pumps can empty its oil collection tanks in less than four hours.
