Within record time, Fleet Cleaner transferred a cleaning system to an oil spill response vessel and by installing specialised heating equipment, the high pressure water cleaning robot was made ready for high pressure steam cleaning.
Using the 1 MW installed power, a special oil skimmer, as well as the necessary oil booms and PPM’s, the Fleet Cleaner team undertook round the clock cleaning of the affected vessels.
The cleaning was done in co-operation with main contractor Hebo, which is the company contracted to clean and co-ordinate the cleaning of the entire Rotterdam port area.
Due to the use of its cleaning robot, which is normally used to remove fouling, such as algae and barnacles from ship’s hulls to save fuel costs, a completely safe operation was undertaken. Fleet Cleaner assisted in the cleaning of 12 oil-fouled vessels.
Where standard oil spill cleaning was done above the water level, the Fleet Cleaner robot was also able to clean underwater to help vessels fouled during the loading process. In addition, the system was also used to remove oil up to 10 m above the waterline.
Fleet Cleaner has proven that it can also successfully be used to help in environmental disasters. As a result, an optional package will be included in future Fleet Cleaner systems for oil spill situations in other ports.