After making a brief stop in Norfolk for refueling, U.S. Coast Guard inspections and an all-out publicity blitz intended to drum up public support, a giant tanker billed as the world's largest oil skimming vessel set sail Friday for the Gulf of Mexico where it hopes to assist in the oil-cleanup effort.
The Taiwanese-owned, Liberian-flagged ship dubbed the "A Whale" stands 10 stories high, stretches 1,115 feet in length and has a nearly 200-foot beam. It displaces more water than an aircraft carrier.
Built in South Korea as a supertanker for transporting oil and iron ore, the six-month-old vessel was refitted in the wake of the BP oil spill with 12, 16-foot-long intake vents on the sides of its bow designed to skim oil off surface waters
The vessel's billionaire owner, Nobu Su, the CEO of Taiwanese shipping company TMT Group, said the ship would float across the Gulf "like a lawn mower cutting the grass," ingesting up to 500,000 barrels of oil-contaminated water a day.
But a number of hurdles stand in his way. TMT officials said the company does not yet have government approval to assist in the cleanup or a contract with BP to perform the work.
Ed over at HotAir points out a lot of interesting facts and makes a few key points, such as how this ship can basically do what's taken us 2 months time in one day, and that there's no reason the government shouldn't of known about this ship before day 66. He's absolutely right, and there is no valid reason why this monster shouldn't of been in the gulf as soon as possible. This is where the President comes in. ThePresident has the ability to pound on tables and make things happen without all the bureaucracy, but instead of actually doing what he can to fix the problem, he's tried to pass the buck off on whoever he can.
Even more proof that Obama is a legislator at best, but certainly not a leader.
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