IAC roadshow demonstrates pollution control craft

The Ecoceane Cataglop XL Diesel vessels are 9.90m long and capable of 6 knots. The presentations included a full demonstration of the vessel, trips on board showing off the suction mechanism, floating waste and oil separation systems. Barrie Dannenberg, director of IAC said, ‘Ecoceane vessels, in this case the Cataglop XLD, is built to meet MCA requirements and is equally at home in marinas and in large industrialised rivers. High manoeuvrability allows it to work between boats in a marina and to suck rubbish and pollution out from underneath pontoons. Short booms allow a much larger area to be cleaned in one pass. A similar vessel was supplied to the Shannon Estuary Anti Pollution Team and the Irish Coastguard late last year.’

Ecoceane, based in Brittany, has developed a range of oil spill and solid waste clean up vessels which are highly specialised and adapted to keeping the marine environment clean. Deemed to be ‘vacuum cleaners of the sea’, they are aluminium catamarans built under Bureau Veritas supervision, using simple patented techniques to collect oil without using any chemicals.

They operate by the water flow that is created upon engine start up between the twin hulls, with floating waste sucked in. This flow is separated into two layers, the lower layer discharging clear water via the propeller in the stern. Hydrocarbons are captured by an integrated oil interceptor and stored. The cleaned surface water is discharged at the stern.

The vessels can work in confined spaces, between boats in a marina, or moving along a dock wall, due to the rollers in the four corners of its structure. Because they are so light, they can be easily transferred by road trailer to their next clean up destination.

The Cataglop XL is a member of the Ecoceane family of vessels, which include the 7m long Cataglop Light for small ports and marinas, Cataglop at 7.85m and Catamar, the newly designed offshore spill clean-up vessel.