MS Arca: 83 metre-long oil recovery vessel protects the waters

Collision on the North Sea

Just before 11.00 a.m., disaster strikes. The cargo vessel Solong, en route to the Port of Rotterdam, collides with the oil tanker and fire breaks out on both vessels, while kerosene spills into the North Sea.

Rapid action from the crew kept the damage to a minimum and ensured that only a limited amount of kerosene entered the water. Now, imagine this had happened in Dutch coastal waters and large quantities of kerosene or oil had spilled into the water? Rijkswaterstaat has a vessel precisely to deal with situations like these: the MS Arca.

MS Arca

The ship has several duties. One week, the crew might be identifying shipwreck sites; the next week performing ecological research into life on the sea floor. The Arca has arms that are 15 m long, fitted with oil skimmers so that it can clean up oil spills and tackle other emergencies.

The Netherlands has never had to deal with a large-scale oil disaster. However, vessels regularly lose oil, whether as a result of an accident or work in dock. We administer Dutch territorial waters in the North Sea and inland waterways. We are also responsible for tracing pollution, restricting its impact and clearing up oil spills.

Multibeam

In addition to the skimmer arms to tackle oil spills, there is a whole arsenal of measuring instruments on board, including the 'multibeam', an acoustic transducer that emits sound waves, which is lowered from the underside of the vessel.

It is comparable with ultrasound imaging for medical applications. The sound waves reflect off the surface of the layer of sludge on the sea floor. Once we know the speed of the sound, we can calculate where the sea floor is in relation to the vessel.

Ships can sail normally through loose sludge, so we also have a special sludge-measuring device. We hoist this sensor over board and insert it into the layer of sludge as far as it will go. Then, we can be certain of the actual under keel clearance.

International aid

In principle, we tackle environmental pollution at national level. However, a country in which there is an incident may decide to enlist the aid of other countries. This is regulated in the Bonn Agreement.

In the North Sea collision referred to above, this was not an issue. We did monitor the situation closely, however. We made oil-spill models so that we would be able to predict how the pollution would most likely spread, and whether it would reach our waters.

If another country asks for such help, the MS Arca is always on stand-by to assist.