Oil Patch Bits: Global ROV to be used to determine oil at 900 feet
Global Diving and Salvage Inc. said Oct. 10 that it has been contracted by the United States Coast Guard to determine if oil is present aboard the sunken ship S.S. Montebello, which sits 900 feet below the ocean surface approximately 6.5 miles off the coast of Cambria, Calif.
The S.S. Montebello sank after a Japanese submarine torpedoed the large oil tanker on Dec. 23, 1941. To date, no signs of leakage have been detected, and from previous visual inspections by submarine, the cargo section appears to be intact.
The possibility of future oil release has prompted the U.S. Coast Guard to contract Global to determine the integrity of the cargo section and its contents.
Global’s Cougar XT ROV will be used as the platform which will support the inspection, both visual and sonar, thickness gauging, backscatter tooling operations, physical sampling of the tank contents, and sediment sampling from the general area. Global has teamed with T & T Bisso to provide engineering support and 3-D modeling on the vessel. Additionally, Tracerco has been subcontracted to utilize their neutron backscatter tool, a non-invasive sensing device, which will be used to determine the presence of oil and oil/water interface.
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