News - National
Boat with containment box reaches oil site
Posted: May 6, 2010 6:58 AM by Bea Karnes, News First 5
A boat carrying a 100-ton concrete-and-steel contraption designed to siphon off the oil fouling the Gulf of Mexico has arrived at the spot in the sea where a blown-out well is spewing petroleum.
Engineers hope it will be the best short-term solution to controlling the leak that has only worsened since it began two weeks ago.
The boat hauling the specially built containment box and dome structure pushed off Wednesday evening from the Louisiana coast and arrived Thursday morning. Another boat with a crane will be used to lower the contraption to the seafloor to cover the gusher of oil spewing from the seabed - something that's never been tried before at such depths.
BP spokesman Bill Salvin says the drop is expected at about 10 a.m. Colorado time.
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