Solar 1 oil retrieval to begin March 14

Sonsub, an Italian firm specializing in deepwater operations, announced yesterday that it will begin oil retrieval operations on the sunken vessel Solar 1 off Guimaras province by March 14.

Sonsub was contracted by the Protection and Indemnity (P&I) Club, insurer of Solar 1, to retrieve any remaining oil on the sunken vessel, which lies at a depth of 640 meters.

This is only the second time in history that such a deepsea oil retrieval operation will be undertaken.

Sonsub successfully retrieved 13,500 tons of crude oil without spillage from the tanker Prestige which sank at a depth of 10,000 feet 240 kilometers off the coast of Spain.

Solar 1, meanwhile, is at a depth of 2,100 feet. It was carrying about 2,000 tons of fuel oil when it sank.

Sonsub will use the latest technologies, including the 80-meter long dynamic positioning vessel Allied Shield that will use thrusters to keep it in position over Solar 1 at all times.

Two remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) will also be deployed to work on the sunken vessel.

"The extraction of oil from Solar 1 will be relatively easier than the Prestige which sank in much harsher environmental conditions. Additionally, everything that will be done in this oil recovery project has been done before," Sonsub project director Robin Galleti said.

During the operation, the ROVs will assist in drilling two holes in each tank. Water will be allowed to flow into one hole to displace any remaining oil which would flow from the second hole.

Both holes will have fail-safe valves. A shuttle container will be placed on top of the valve to capture the oil. The container will then be brought to 30 meters under the surface where submersible pumps will transfer the oil to ISO tanks on the Allied Shield.

"We will be operating 24 hours a day, seven days a week to hasten the recovery of any trapped oil in Solar 1," Galleti said.

"We wish to assure all concerned that we have several measures in place to ensure a fail-safe operation. In addition, we have contingency plans in place to cover the unlikely event of any oil release," he added.

Contingency plans include oil spill response tugboats that will be deployed for the duration of the retrieval operations.

These boats are equipped with oil dispersants, oil skimmers for the mechanical recovery of oil and spill booms for containment. One aircraft, which has airborne dispersant capability, will continuously monitor the area.

The operation is expected to last around 20 days with the cost estimated at $6 million.