EMEA News
Miko Marine Launches Oil Removal Tool for Environmental Protection
Norway-based Miko Marine has released a new oil removal system for sunken ships at risk of spilling fuel into the water, the company announced.
The Moskito system began development in 2012 with the backing of Innovation Norway, a government-sponsored research and development organisation.
"Many of the thousands of ships sunk during the Second World War have seventy years of corrosion eating at their plates and the days when the pollutants that they are carrying are released draw inexorably closer," Miko said.
"The only answers are to either seal the wreck or recover the liquid in a controlled manner."
The company said that its device can be deployed by divers or through a remotely operated vehicle to any ocean depth, where it will then attach itself using powerful magnets to a ship's steel hull.
An equipped drill then pierces the tank and a patented spring latch coupling connects and locks a hose to the tank without allowing any of the contents to escape.
A subsea pump attached to the hose can then extract the oil at the rate of 12 cubic metres per hour.
"This was not an easy product to develop as it required us to call upon our highest standards of engineering and innovation," said General Manager Nicolai Michelsen, adding that the technology would make a valuable contribution to marine environmental conservation.
"It provides a solution to a problem that has remained unanswered since the first ship sank and we are now hoping that our coastlines and our wildlife will see the benefit."
Other countries have also tackled the issue of pollution from oil spills.
Early this year, Gibraltar published a new oil contingency plan after it assessed the routine activities taking place in its territorial waters.
