New York City DEP - Department of Environmental Protection
Bureau of Environmental Engineering Division of Water Quality Improvement

CITY-WIDE FLOATABLES STUDY (TRASH SKIMMERS)
Floatables Pilot Program - Final Report
Evaluation of Non-Structural Methods of Control Combined and Storm Sewer Floatable Materials
January 1995

Vessel Selection

In October of 1992, letters of interest and qualifications were solicited from marine manufacturers for supplying the first two trash skimmer vessels. Solicitations were forwarded to several companies such as:

• Waterborne Recovery Systems, Inc.
• International, Inc.
• Marine Systems, Inc.
• Admiralty Engineers and Surveyors.

A list of manufacturers was developed through discussions with the DEP, the New York City Department of Sanitation (DOS), the City of Baltimore, the City of Washington D.C. and a review of marine and public works journals. The solicitations presented a set of performance specifications. One element in the solicitation letter was the requirement that the manufacturer have a standard skimmer vessel design previously constructed, tested and in operation at other locations.

HydroQual received letters of interest from two manufacturers (United Marine International and Ecomarine) who constructed their own standard model skimmer vessels. Other responses were received indicating that the manufacturer would build a vessel to a set of plans and specifications presented to them and that they did not manufacture their own standard model skimmer vessel. The two manufacturers who responded positively were then asked to supply further information on their vessels including plans, equipment, costs and references.

Information received from each manufacturer was reviewed by HydroQual and a recommendation was made to the DEP. The DEP concurred with the recommendation to purchase the first two skimmer vessels from the United Marine International. This recommendation was based on:

• the physical size of the vessel,
• the method of removal of trash from the water,
• the amount of trash the removal would carry,
• the purchase price
• and the location of the manufacturing facility.

Each of the elements involved in the selection process are described below for the two manufacturers who submitted qualifications and prices.

As indicated above, the two skimmer vessel designs were approximately equal in many aspects. Other aspects such as the storage capacity and price were very different. A recommendation was made, and approved by DEP, to purchase two United Marine International (UMI) skimmer vessels. A contract was signed with UMI for the purchase of two vessels for the City of New York on January 5, 1993. A down payment was made to UMI in late January during the first of two site inspections made to the manufacturing plant. The first skimmer vessel was delivered to New York City on April 23, 1993 and the second vessel was delivered on May 21, 1993.

During the initial months of operation of the vessels a number of operational problems were encountered. UMI honored their warranty to the City and repaired or modified the vessels in a timely manner to correct these problems. The largest number of problems involved vessel transmissions. The problem was determined to be due to a defect in the transmission supplied to UMI from the manufacturer, Eaton Corp.

Source: Excerpt from NYC DEP Floatables Pilot Program - Final Report Jan 1995