Sentinel Midstream LLC has now received its Record Of Decision – ROD – from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration (MARAD) for its deepwater crude oil export terminal – Texas Gulflink – located approximately 30 nautical miles off Brazoria country, Texas.
Please read Sentinel’s reactions to the ROD and their plans going forward here: Sentinel Midstream’s “Texas Gulflink” Deepwater Port Receives Approval From U.S. Maritime Administration – Sentinel Midstream
The grant of the ROD shows that the US promotes more cost-effective ways of exporting their crude oil. The oil export from the US is, as of today, performed by ship to ship (STS) operations in open waters, typically with a Very Large Crude Carrier (VLCC) as receiving vessel, with smaller crude oil tankers used for shuttling the oil from shore. These costly STS operations are necessary due to limited deep water port capacity for VLCCs in the area. The current export setup is not only an expensive operation, but has also grave environmental implications as up to several hundred tons of valuable Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) are released into the atmosphere during each loading of a crude oil tanker.
The ROD to Sentinel’s Texas Gulflink is an important step forward, eliminating the STS operations and VOC emissions in the area.
In the ROD, MARAD has set strict restrictions on emissions of VOC when loading of crude oil tankers. This is a strong sign that this particular type of air pollution is becoming a focus area.
Vaholmen has developed the ideal solution to avoid the emissions of VOC during offshore loading of crude oil tankers in a very cost-effective way. The solution has been developed and patented by Vaholmen in close cooperation with Wärtsilä Gas Solutions, Ulstein Design & Solution and American Bureau of Shipping. The key factors in the solution are based on well proven technologies such as dynamic positioning systems, which are in daily use worldwide, and well proven process plants developed by Wärtsilä Gas Solutions – The Vaholmen Unit. On the Norwegian continental shelf, the plants from Wärtsilä Gas Solutions have been in operation for more than 25 years to recover emissions generated during offshore oil loadings.
In the years to come, Vaholmen anticipates more countries to follow Norway and United States on requiring the recovery of these valuable and yet harmful resources. Vaholmen is looking forward to further marketing our solutions to solve this ongoing massive waste of valuable resources and bring the resources back into the value chain.
For more information on the solution, please see the animation on our web page : www.vaholmen.no under technology menu or contact;
Arve Andersson
CEO
E-mail; arve@vaholmen.no
About the Vaholmen Units
The Vaholmen Units, which can be classed as an OSV with a cargo capacity of 1 200 m3 of liquid VOC, or as gas carrier with 3 000 m3 liquid VOC loading capacity, have been developed in close cooperation with Wärtsilä Gas Solutions, American Bureau of Shipping and Ulstein Design & Solutions. Regardless of capacity, the Vaholmen Unit will be equipped with DP2 capabilities and with a flexible and energy efficient power system.
Vaholmen is offering Vaholmen Units under time charter, sale on an EPC basis or licenses to terminal owners and terminal operators and with management services for VOC plants and vessels in cooperation with partners.