Big Oil to the rescue? It doesn’t get any better than this
Kudos to Marc Lawrence of Fairfield Industries for sharing this tidbit! It seems that an expedition team that set out from Plymouth, England, on a 5,000-mile (8,000-km) “carbon emission-free” voyage to Greenland had to be rescued by none other than an oil tanker.
God this is choice.
The BBC reports that the crew of the Fleur was rescued by the Overseas Yellowstone in strong winds after the crew sent a mayday because they feared for their safety.
The team, according to the report, planned to use sail, solar, and man power to propel the vessel. The expedition was being followed by as many as 40 schools across the UK “to promote climate change awareness.”
The grandiose plan lost its footing after ferocious winds caused the boat to be temporarily capsized three times. At one point one of the crew hit his head, and the wind generator and solar panels were torn from the ship. Another crew member fell overboard during the rescue, while water was entering the boat due to breaking waves.
The mayday came as the crew were still 400 miles (644 km) off the west coast of Ireland.
Perhaps even more amusing than this ironic rescue is the flurry of comments that accompanied the BBC report. A few of the better ones:
“The irony here is making my week. First ‘clean energy’ is a flop, and then to add insult to injury, they have to be rescued by an OIL TANKER!”
“The only thing that would’ve made this story even funnier is if a whaling boat had to help.”
And my personal favorite: “If those three guys were truly dedicated, they would have refused to be rescued by that filthy tanker. Give their lives for their ‘noble’ cause.”
OK, so I’m glad they are safe and no lives were lost. Still, it makes you wonder how the eco movement can be so critical of the oil and gas industry’s “accidents” at sea when millions of barrels of black sticky stuff get moved around the world’s oceans on a regular basis without their crews requiring risky rescues. Yes, the boats are bigger. But the crews are also highly trained, and the vessels have redundant systems in place if something fails.
I’m not sure sail, solar, and man power quite meet the criterion of a “redundant system.”
OTC thrives despite challenges
This just in: “Attendance at the 2009 Offshore Technology Conference (OTC) reached 66,820 strong despite a global economic recession and initial concerns about swine flu,” according to a report from event planners. Had I written this missive I might have referred to “swarms” and “teeming masses,” but this pretty well covers it. It takes more than an economic meltdown and a pandemic to keep this industry away.
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May 14th, 2009 at 8:41 am
Almost as good as the developing petroleum industry saving the whales from extinction in the late 1800’s, by providing an alternative to whale oil for lamp fuel for lighting
May 14th, 2009 at 9:02 am
Damn Right! The Oilpatch is the best representative of free enterprise in the world. Solar is great–but make it compete with oil on a level playing field. May the best man win!
Hal Mettes
Changsha, China
May 14th, 2009 at 9:40 am
That made my day! Will not see that on the evening news.
May 14th, 2009 at 9:54 am
In order to truly fulfil their committemnt to a carbon free voyage, they would have had to stop breathing. I have just finished my birch bark canoe made with my flint knife and adz. Haven’t shaved or bathed in hot water in 2 weeks. I am looking forward to the “Cap and Trade” to cash in…but can’t get any of that capitalist STUFF like solar panels or wind generators or I will be compromising my values. Oh well, back to the cave for my lunch of sticks and berries (no fire of course).
May 14th, 2009 at 11:38 am
The stupidity of man marches on! It is important to remember history. Sails were never better than coal or oil power.
May 14th, 2009 at 12:07 pm
It sounds like they didn’t give a back-up plan much thougth. They appear to have rolled the dice and got craps. I guess a sturdy gas guzzling outboard motor would trump 3 sets of oars.
May 14th, 2009 at 1:23 pm
Typical industry arrogance, no wonder we are hated. A bunch of “Hippies” and “Big Oil to the rescue!” You’d think we are saints.
A high seas rescue is nothing to beat our chests over or to claim superiority; it happens every day for many reasons. Lest we remember a certain oil tanker in the Straits of Valdez or off the very Irish Coast mentioned in the article. Maybe the rescue from the Piper Alpha platform….I could go on and on.
May 15th, 2009 at 1:47 am
Perhaps a nuclear submarine alerted the tanker to their presence.
May 15th, 2009 at 3:50 am
I am a drilling engineer, and am proud to have worked for a major oil company for 30 years. However I am disappointed, once again, to see environmental issues addressed with puerile comments such as these. They fall short on two fronts:
1. In a mature democracy, opposing views should be treated with respect. It is likely that the opposing side would be equally rude - so here was a missed opportunity to show how to behave. Instead, the stereotype of oilfield folks is reinforced.
2. These issues are not simple right vs wrong, good vs evil choices. Anyone who claims that the science is clear in either direction has failed to conduct balanced research, or is being economical with the truth.
May 15th, 2009 at 12:31 pm
We have to remember that you can’t fix stupid.
May 16th, 2009 at 12:20 am
Alternate energy will grow and come into its own in times to come. It’s wrong to expect too much from it too soon as in the case cited, the expedition pitched itself against the vey extreme. The world existed before oil and will exist after oil, so let us not belittle anything before its time. Then we may say that oil was too messy and messed up our environment badly which may take 100 years or more to heal. I’m an oil man myself and know that we’re dealing with an exhaustible resource which may not last very long, so alternate sources will play their role in small ways first, as now, before staking a major presence some time towards the close of this century.