CHARLESTON, S.C. – The crew of a Coast Guard cutter will test the Coast Guard’s Spilled Oil Recovery System in Charleston Harbor Wednesday at 9 a.m.
The crew of the Cutter Elm from Atlantic Beach, N.C., will be exercising their ability to deploy and maneuver the equipment while underway in the harbor. The Spilled Oil Recovery System is a part a strategically-place network of oil spill response equipment that can be rapidly deployed to areas affected by an environmental emergency.
The SORS equipment is a modern, high performance, single ship recovery system, designed to be used aboard 16 Juniper Class Coast Guard buoy tenders for response to an environmental emergency across the United States. The skimming system is part of the vessel’s equipment and is maintained on board.
The system is able to begin recovering oil in less than one hour by skimming the surface of the water and storing oil in a holding tank once at an environmental emergency.
The captain of the port has established a temporary, moving safety zone around the Elm for the safety of all mariners.
