Port of Gothenburg Presents New Oil Spill Robot

A new robot has been introduced at the Port of Gothenburg. Its task will be to deploy booms in the event of an oil spill.

This new technology should result a more rapid and safer oil spill clearance at the Port of Gothenburg.

The Port of Gothenburg has invested SEK 3.5 million in an automatic GPS-controlled boom. In the event of a spill, a member of staff at the Energy Port office presses a button on the wall. This activates a torpedo-like unmanned craft that travels around the dock towing a 400-metre-long boom. The automatic boom is made of plastic and is half a metre below water and 20 cm above water.

“The robot tows the boom from one pier to another. It could be said that it forms a large bag in which the oil is collected. It has already been in operation once for testing and the results were good,” said Dan-Erik Andersson, Head of Operations at the Energy Port in Gothenburg.

It is the Gothenburg-based company SP Marine, together with the Port of Gothenburg, that has developed the automatic boom. The project started five years ago.

“It has taken a long time to adapt the robot to the conditions in the Göta Älv river and at the Energy Port and that is why it feels particularly gratifying now that development has been completed,” said Dan-Erik Andersson.

Similar robots are used in Malmö and are being developed in Stenungsund. According to Port of Gothenburg, up to now this technology is unique to Sweden.