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Oil spill response vessel (OSRV)

In addition to warships, the Navy has an on-going oil spill response vessel which, following a request for assistance from the Finnish Environment Institute (SYKE), is responding to environmental damage. An oil spill response vessel (OSRV) is a ship designed to support oil spill clean-up operations by oil recovery, boom deployment and/or dispersant application. Oil recovery ship is equipped with fixed installations and/or mobile equipment for the removal of oil from the sea surface and its retention on board, carriage and subsequent unloading. Boom deployment vessels install floating barriers (booms) to control spilled oil. They frequently feature reels for stowage of boom. Dispersant application vessels are fitted with pumps and distribution systems.

SYKE and the Navy have entered into a cooperation agreement under which the Navy manages and operates SYKE-owned oil recovery vessels. There are three ships: Hall, Seal Louhi, all stationed in the 8th Coast Fleet. Hall's home port is Pansio, Hylke and Louhen Upinniemi. Vessels are used, in addition to supporting the activities of other authorities, to perform naval statutory military duties as support and support vessels. The Finnish Environment Agency has the leadership and vessel resources in this co-operation pattern, the Navy has the ability to occupy and operate vessels in the Navy. A cooperation agreement has been concluded for precisely such tasks. The whole cooperation aims to combat environmental damage and develop it through cooperation through exercises. Similar naval support and enforcement tasks occur about 1-2 cases a year.

When oil is spilled into an aquatic environment, it can harm organisms that live on or around the water surface and those that live under water. Spilled oil can also damage parts of the food chain, including human food resources. The severity of the impact of an oil spill depends on a variety of factors, including characteristics of the oil itself. Natural conditions, such as water temperature andweather, also influence the behavior of oil in aquaticenvironments. Various types of habitats have differing sensitivities to oil spills as well.

When used in recovering oil, booms are often supported by a horizontal arm extending directly off one or both sides of a vessel. Sailing through the heaviest sections of the spill at low speeds, a vessel scoops the oil and traps it between the angle of the boom and the vessel’s hull. ln another variation, a boom is moored at the end points of a rigid arm extended from the vessel, forming a ”U”- or “J”­ shaped pocket in which oil can collect. In either case, the trapped oil can then be pumped out to holding tanks and returned to shore for proper disposal or recycling.

All 18 [as of 2013] oil spill vessels, as well as the Åland provincial oil spill vessel, are equipped with permanently installed on-board brush collectors, which are capable of independent oil collection. The recovery capacity of an oil recovery vessel is dependent on the thickness and viscosity of the oil layer to be collected and the speed of the oil recovery vessel. In the collection task, the speed of the oil spill vessel is very low, only 1-2 knots. With an average oil layer thickness of 0.5 mm and an average collector speed of 2 knots, our combat vessels could collect a total of about 1000 m³ of oil per hour from the sea. Navy ships are always on either Hall, Seal or Louhi with a four hour standby. The fastest available are RVL's patrol vessels, which are at sea almost continuously at RVL.

The Louhi multifunctional vessel, acquired by the Environmental Administration for the Navy, was completed in spring 2011. Louhi's home port is in Kirkkonummi. The Louhi Multifunctional can handle demanding combat and rescue tasks that older combat vessels cannot or will not survive in the open water season.

Louhi has approximately 1200 m3 tank capacity for recovered oil and approximately 200 m3 tank capacity for chemicals. The vessel has a collecting width of approximately 42 meters. It has a towing winch for emergency and rescue towing and a 68 ton pile pulling capacity. The ship is provided with advanced fire extinguishing equipment (FI-FI 1) to prevent fire in the ship. The vessel is capable of safely surviving an explosive or toxic gas cloud and provides protection against the pressure effects of any external chemical explosion. Louhi can also act as the lead and support vessel for a so-called multisectoral disaster.

The Border Guard's new foreign patrol vessel Turva has been handed over to the customer. The ship is the largest ship in the facility and was commissioned in 2014. It is equipped not only for border security and maritime rescue missions, but also to combat environmental damage. Other duties of the ship include: emergency towing, ocean research and underwater work. The vessel will be used primarily in the Baltic Sea region in all weather and visibility conditions, but may also participate in international operations in both Arctic and tropical conditions.

In the event of a major ship oil spill, Finland needs oil spill response from neighboring countries. There are about 70 oil spill response vessels in the Baltic Sea. The HELCOM Convention between the Baltic Sea States lays down the principles for requesting and granting assistance. The coastal states of the Baltic Sea practice the cooperation of anti-pollution vessels every year in the so-called In the Balex Delta exercise.

The European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) has acquired oil spill response capabilities for the Baltic Sea. EMSA has signed an agreement to use the icebreaker Kontio as an oil spill vessel in the northern Baltic Sea area from summer 2010. Kontio has a tank capacity of 2,033 m3 and its home port is Helsinki in ice-free weather. EMSA also has one oil spill response vessel in the Southern Baltic with a tank capacity of 4,360 m3.

Meritaito is a private Finnish company that is one of the leading developers and providers of high technology services in the Baltic Sea Region. It works together with the Finnish Environment Agency on oil spill prevention and environmental damage prevention. Meritaito's role is to contribute to combating offshore oil pollution. Meritaito has nine vessels in the Finnish offshore area and on the Saimaa River for oil spill response throughout the year. All of Meritaito's heavy waterway vessels are built as oil recovery vessels. Meritaito's fairway vessels have built-in collection tanks and brush collectors. Some ships also have winter harvesting equipment that can be used to collect oil on ice. The versatility of vessels is in the customer's interest. Meritaito provides oil recovery services as a complete service and with fast response times to prevent environmental damage, saving the customer total cost. This is made possible by Meritaito's extensive network of outlets, versatile equipment and strong expertise.