Patent ID: 9643692
Date: 2017-05-09
CPC Classifications: B63B,E02B,Y02A

Claim:
1. An oil recovery vessel useful for collecting oil floating in a body of water in an oil spill area at or near the surface of the body of water, the vessel having a deck, length, width, front end, rear end and left and right sides and being moveable across the top of the body of water through the oil spill area, the vessel comprising: a plurality of distinct cargo compartments positioned adjacent to one another along at least part of the length of the vessel and arranged and adapted to contain sea water and oil, each said cargo compartment having a width, an upper end and a lower end, a front said cargo compartment being disposed closest to the front of the vessel and a rear said cargo compartment being disposed closest to the rear of the vessel, said front cargo compartment being separated from the front end of the vessel by at least one front vertical wall and each adjacent pair of said cargo compartments being separated by at least one other vertical wall, each said vertical wall having an upper end and at least one opening formed therein proximate to said upper end thereof, each said opening being arranged and adapted to allow the flow of liquid through said associated vertical wall and into said adjacent cargo compartment aft of said vertical wall, wherein said at least one opening in said front vertical wall allows the flow of liquid from the body of water into said front cargo compartment and at least one said other opening allows the flow of liquid therefrom into each successive adjacent cargo compartment in the direction of the rear end of the vessel; a plurality of gates, at least one said gate arranged and adapted to allow and disallow the flow of fluid through at least one said opening formed in each said vertical wall, each said gate being selectively movable between at least one open and at least one closed position, each said gate in said at least one open position allowing the flow of liquid through said at least one associated opening and each said gate in said at least one closed position disallowing the flow of liquid through said at least one associated opening, wherein when said at least one gate associated with all of said openings in any of said vertical walls is in said closed position, said adjacent cargo compartment aft of said at least one gate is substantially sealed from liquid entering said cargo compartment through said at least one respective associated opening; at least one at least partially floating, elongated, boom disposed proximate to the front end of the vessel, said at least one boom being arranged and adapted to encourage oil to flow into said front cargo compartment from the body of water; and at least one suction conduit being fluidly coupled to each said cargo compartment to concurrently allow sea water to be removed from any one of said cargo compartments therethrough and oil to enter and substantially fill said respective cargo compartment through said at least one opening in said adjacent foremost vertical wall.