S'pore Straits Oil Spill, Boats Damage, May 2010

[Calliste]

Hi All , The recent crude oil spill (05/26/2010) from the tanker collision, has caused heaps of oil in our marina, (SAF Changi, SE corner, of S'pore) which has caused oil to accumulate on our topsides and down under, onto the antifoul.

Are there any recomendations for us boat owners to be aware of , or things we should do, during the clean-up / mop-up operations ?

I did download the Interlux Guidelines and Awlgrip Guidelines, from the Boat US,oil spill tips, but there may be many other issues and information for those of us who are directly affected by this spill.

Where to start, or when to start, or how to start clean up of our boats, and what help can we expect from third party insurance, that is required in these waters .

What can we do to get our boats back to their condition, before the spill ?

Douglas , S/V Calliste, Lang, S/V Eleanor , Singapore May 31, 2010

[MMNETSEA]

Originally Posted by Calliste' date='31 May 2010 - 02:53 PM

Hi All , The recent crude oil spill (05/26/2010) from the tanker collision, has caused heaps of oil in our marina, (SAF Changi, SE corner, of S'pore) which has caused oil to accumulate on our topsides and down under, onto the antifoul.

Are there any recomendations for us boat owners to be aware of , or things we should do, during the clean-up / mop-up operations ?

I did download the Interlux Guidelines and Awlgrip Guidelines, from the Boat US,oil spill tips, but there may be many other issues and information for those of us who are directly affected by this spill.

Where to start, or when to start, or how to start clean up of our boats, and what help can we expect from third party insurance, that is required in these waters .

What can we do to get our boats back to their condition, before the spill ?

Douglas , S/V Calliste, Lang, S/V Eleanor , Singapore May 31, 2010

Have you spoken to the their Tanker insurers ? The Marina may already be lodging claims.

If I were were you I would arrange to be lifted out at Raffles at the tankers' insurers cost.

[lang]

Originally Posted by MMNETSEA' date='31 May 2010 - 08:25 AM

Have you spoken to the their Tanker insurers ? The Marina may already be lodging claims.

If I were were you I would arrange to be lifted out at Raffles at the tankers' insurers cost.

Yes, we have been prelimary surveyed by the underwritters for the tanker. The next survey will be done during the haulout and degreasing wash of top side and antifoul. I am led to believe that the next survey will be for assessing the true damage and repairs necessary.

We have been trying to get information on whether our AWLgrip topside and antifoul on Calliste should be redone at the tankers cost. And what about gelcoat on Eleanor? If the stains cant be removed, should Eleanor be painted at the tankers cost?

If anyone out there has information on how boats affected by the oil spill in the US have been restored or compensated, pls pass on that information to us. Thanks !

[JeanneP]

We're sitting on the Atlantic coast of Florida, and a number of Gulf boats have come over here to wait out the oil spill. The various cruising and marine supply web sites have been instructing boats to get out of the Gulf or, if not possible, get their boat hauled. Since the oil continues to gush out of the ground as of this date there have been no suggestions of liability claims for anybody other than commercial fishermen. Though this might change once the oil leak has stopped and BP and the lawyers can turn their attention to the massive damage, right now nothing.

As for Singapore.

If your boat still has its original gelcoat, and it can be cleaned, I would recommend that you try very hard to restore the gelcoat. IMO, painting the boat is the last option when all else fails.

Most US boats have a lot of experience with all sorts of oil contamination of their topsides. We've sailed through huge oil slicks left by freighters pumping out their bilges; Venezuelan fishing boats changing their engine oil, pouring the old oil into the water, even in marinas! One reason that it is so important that the topsides be cleaned, waxed and buffed several times a year. That wax is an excellent protector of gelcoat.

If you look around, you might be able to find a US cleaning product called Lestoil (my spelling is correct). It is excellent for cleaning off tar, oil, grease. It is a solvent suspended in a detergent. Smells like Kerosene, but it really works. However, to clean with it you need to try very hard not to spread the oil/grease/sludge around over the surface. Use cotton rags/terrycloth towels with full strength Lestoil on the gunk, mopping it up as you soften it with the cleaner. Don't use it as a soap to wash over the entire hull, just use it on the goop. You'll see as you use it how it works. It will also remove all the wax on your hull.

[lang]

Ahoy Jeanne,

What do you think of Simple Green for this cleaning? That may be used for Callistes' AWLgrip. Would you recommend Lestoil for AWLgrip and other yacht paints?

I attached some pictures. Is this bad? or not so bad actually? We see some outward smudging on Calliste, we dont know if this is creeping inside or just on the surface. Comments please.

Cheers,

Lang.

[JeanneP]

I've seen worse from a nasty oil slick just outside the Panama Canal on the Pacific side, but yours is going to take some cleaning efforts. It looks, though, as if it is oil, not evaporated oil turned into sticky tar.

Although we like Simple Green and use it to do most of the cleaning of the boat, I don't think that it will remove tar. When trying to remove particular stains, I have a reasonably simple approach.

I have lots of terrycloth rags. I dampen one of them with straight cleaner, Simple Green for example. Try it. If it doesn't work perfectly, I go to another cleaner. Dishwashing liquid, which usually will remove most diesel, oil, and grease. Liquid laundry detergent - in fact, there is a Malaysian laundry detergent that was superior to any of the US products we had on board - (sounds sort of like Dobie? perhaps?) While we were in Malaysia it was our cleaner of choice for most everything on the boat.

Since Lestoil is so expensive, it's the last ditch cleaner to try, but it usually takes on everything thrown at it - my mother restored some old paint-hardened paint brushes by soaking them in straight Lestoil. Lestoil is both petroleum solvent and detergent, which makes it an easy cleaner to use for grease and tar since it emulsifies and disperses the hydrocarbons.

None of the cleaners and solvents above should harm an Awlgrip surface, but certainly test a small patch first to be absolutely sure.

Keep us informed on your progress, please?

[lang]

Updates on the cleaning. Keico yacht services got the job to clean yachts affected by the spill. They bid was to lift the boat out of water and clean it while still in the slings..? .. what about those parts that were under the slings? ..? I never got that question answered.

Anyway, this is what happened to Eleanor. See pictures. Eleanor is a mini yacht that wont fit the travelift, so they used slings and a forklift without the plastic or carpet lining which as I found out later, scratched my gelcoat so badly. ... and nothing I can do about it! its already badly scratched! too late! Plus the oil stains are not coming off with the alkaline based degreaser that they use, and the antifoul is eaten away by the degreaser.. you should observe the streaking down effect, the streaks are exposed old blue antifoul that are below the white antifoul. The white antifoul at the waterline is completely eaten away.

The good thing that came out of this is, we know better to handle the situation when Calliste goes to the yard. We spoke to the manager to have him agree that Callistes Awlgrip cannot be cleaned with the unknown alkaline degreaser. They agreed to use the recommended products by International for this sort of cleaning, which is the T0016 (Awlgrip thinner) and for the antifoul..? We'll see..