Oil Spill Response Vessel Has Great Maneuverability

As offshore oil exploration and production expands, the need for high speed spill response vessels has increased. G.M. Penman is Rozema Boat Works' newest skimmer boat. The 65' vessel depends on Twin Disc QuickShift® transmissions and EC300 Power Commander® electronic control system with Express for the critical task of remediation.

"The G.M. Penman is like a fire truck," said Jason Rozema, Rozema Boat Works operations manager. "It'll run high speed at 26 kts to the incident, but when it arrives at the spill it has to maneuver carefully around piers and other boats. Twin Disc provides complete control at slow speed."

The oil spill recovery vessel (OSRV) is equipped with a pair of Twin Disc QuickShift MGX-6620 RV transmissions. With the EC300 Power Commander electronic propulsion control system, the boat is capable of instantaneous shift response from neutral to full ahead to full reverse. "It has fantastic maneuverability," noted Rozema.

Operating at 1–1.5 kts with its QuickShift transmission, the boat utilizes 1,500' of Kepner ocean boom and dual Lamor three brush skimmers. It has an on board storage capacity of 215 bbl of recovered oil and crude. The vessel is based out of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

The G.M. Penman is the boatbuilder's fifth 65' OSRV. The company also produces a 47' skimmer; all 14 builds have included Twin Disc QuickShift transmissions.

Since 1955, three generations of the Rozema family have built a wide variety of commercial and recreational vessels used throughout North America.