【英语国际】墨西哥湾风浪影响台湾巨型除油船作业

Twelve-foot high waves have hampered the collection of oily water by the Taiwanese ship A Whale, which continued testing its prowess on Monday as the world's largest skimmer.

The effort is the latest in a series of urgent and desperate attempts to stanch the flow of crude flowing onto the fragile Gulf of Mexico coast. The flow stems from the April 20 explosion of the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig leased by BP PLC.

On Monday, Texas officials said tar balls from the BP spill washed up on state beaches for the first time. The number was small in comparison to the sticky goo that has coated the hardest hit parts of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and the Florida Panhandle.

Officials also found tar balls Monday in one of two passes that connect Lake Pontchartrain, by New Orleans, with the Gulf of Mexico. As a precautionary measure state officials closed some fishing areas around the lake Monday. Last week, Coast Guard Rear Adm. Paul Zukunft said in a press briefing he was 'losing sleep' over the prospect of oil entering Lake Pontchartrain. The once-heavily polluted lake underwent a massive recovery effort during the last several decades.

It wasn't clear Monday how successful A Whale's efforts have been since it was deployed Friday. With members of the Coast Guard aboard to gauge its effectiveness, A Whale was the only skimmer out on the rough Gulf seas. Its gigantic size -- more than 1,000 feet long -- lets it maneuver in the high waves.

Last week, Hurricane Alex brought fresh oil ashore. The 12-foot waves on Sunday and Monday came not from Alex, but from a less powerful tropical depression. Waves as small as two feet have sidelined smaller skimmers. Bob Grantham, a spokesman for the Taiwanese shipping company TMT Group, the A Whale's owner, said it was significant that the A Whale was able to stay in the rough waters.

If the skimmer performs as expected, BP or the federal government will contract with TMT to work in the Gulf, the company said. TMT, a privately owned shipping company, invested tens of millions of dollars to turn the A Whale from a cargo ship into a skimmer.

12英尺高的海浪，对台湾轮船“鲸鱼号”(A Whale)的除油工作构成了妨碍。鲸鱼号是世界最大的除油船，周一该船仍在测试其除油能力。

为遏制涌入墨西哥湾脆弱海岸的原油，美国开展了一系列强有力的紧急行动，上述举措就是最新的尝试。原油泄露缘于英国石油公司(BP PLC.)所租钻井平台“深水地平线”(Deepwater Horizon)4月20日发生爆炸。

得克萨斯州官员在周一说，漏油形成的焦油凝块首次冲上了该州的海岸，但相比于路易斯安那、密西西比、亚拉巴马和佛罗里达西部，数量还不是很多；后面这几个州情况最严重的地区已经被这种粘乎乎的东西完全覆盖。

新奥尔良附近的Pontchartrain湖经由两条河道和墨西哥湾连接，官员们周一在其中的一条河道内也发现了焦油凝块。作为预防措施，得州官员于周一关闭了这片湖泊周围的部分捕鱼区域。上周，海岸警卫队少将楚孔夫特(Paul Zukunft)在一次新闻通气会上说，石油进入Pontchartrain湖的可能性让他寝食难安。这片湖泊曾经受到严重污染，过去几十年进行了一场大规模的治理行动。

鲸鱼号上周五部署到位，周一还不清楚其行动效果如何。有一批海岸警卫队队员随船评估除油的有效性。鲸鱼号是唯一一艘前往墨西哥湾大浪水域的除油船，由于体型庞大，长度超过1,000英尺，它可以在大浪中作业。

上周，Alex飓风把新的石油吹上了海岸。周日和周一12英尺高的海浪不是因为这场飓风而起，而是产生于一场威力相对较弱的热带低气压。在海浪只有两英尺高的时候，更小的除油船就无法出海。鲸鱼号船东台湾海陆运输公司(TMT Group)发言人格兰瑟姆(Bob Grantham)说，鲸鱼号能够在恶劣水域停留是很了不起的。

台湾海陆运输公司说，如果鲸鱼号的表现达到预期，英国石油或美国联邦政府将聘用公司在墨西哥湾作业。台湾海陆运输公司是一家未上市船务公司，为把鲸鱼号从货运船改为除油船投入了数千万美元资金。