Follow the construction and development of
the Flexible Filtering Environmental Barge
The Flexible Environmental Barge is the world's first of its kind, and some features of the barge are so unique that FLEX-FEB has obtained patent on the barge.
The page will be updated as the project progresses.
The story behind the Flexible Environmental Protection Barge
The idea of the Flexible Environment Barge originally popped up due to the fact that there is currently no capacity for collecting oil in shallow waters and effective control of oil pollution in the shallow-water zone along the Danish coasts.
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Once the oil hits the coast, significant amounts of sand and other material must be collected (up to 50 times the amount of oil) and subsequently destroyed; and if the oil hits a rocky shore, it must be cleaned manually, which is extremely costly, and often creates a new pollution scenario. In addition, the oil causes severe damage to the coastal zone's fauna and flora.
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Thus, we set out to develop a vessel that
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• Is capable of operating in shallow waters (down to 0.6 m).
• Is easy to operate and does not require special training.
• Is easy to store, transport and handle on land and at sea (and by air if necessary) with commonly available equipment.
• Quick and easy to deploy when needed (anywhere in the world).​
• Has low CAPEX and OPEX (cheap in procurement, operation and maintenance).
The Flexible Environmental Protection Barge
FLEX-FEB soon realized that in order to operate in shallow waters, a vessel with small and constant draft is required, and that this is best achieved by making the vessel's collection/storage capacity and the surrounding water "communicating vessels", which is why the vessel had to feature holes in the bottom. To prevent the collected oil- contaminated water from running back into the surrounding water, the vessel had to be equipped with a filter that stops the oil.
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We performed a series of "kitchen table experiments", which showed that the solution with holes in the bottom and a filter actually works.
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As the vessel had to live up to the term "functional equipment", and meet the above- mentioned criteria, it was clear that the solution was a vessel without engine, navigation and communications equipment, and permanent crew, etc. A barge - an "Environmental Protection Barge" - which must be so flexible that it can be equipped with additional functional equipment as and when required - The Flexible Filtering Environment Barge - FLEX-FEB.
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It is important that the barge impact the environment as little as possible in both operation and maintenance, and when it may be obsolete and be disposed of in many years down the road. The environmental barge is therefore built in aluminum, which is 100% recyclable.
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Multifunctional Capacity
During the development process, FLEX-FEB discovered a parallel need for collecting seaweed and eelgrass, as well as (obviously) plastic and other types of surface waste. Thus, the FLEX-FEB concept is scalable. The horizontal scalability embraces equipment and function - collection of oil, seaweed/eelgrass, plastic, etc. The vertical scalability includes the barge’s size, volume and collection capacity.
The "core product" in the FLEX-FEB concept is FEB-I (the Filtering Environment Barge - with a volume of approx. 4 m3).
From idea to reality - FEB-I is constructed
As the flexible environmental barge must be deployable at short notice, it is important that it can be handled easily without the use of special equipment. FLEX-FEB has therefore chosen to design FEB-I in a size compatible with the 20 'ISO shipping container format, so the barges can be handled anywhere in the world with already available equipment.
In order to achieve the maximum collection capacity in relation to storage and transport volume, FEB-I is constructed internally stackable, so that four FEB-I units stacked in a "cradle" have the exact dimensions of a 20 'ISO container, which facilitates both storage, transport and handling of the FEB-I.
FEB-I is built in marine grade aluminum, which is not only recyclable but also maintenance-free. Thus, the FEB-I can be left as a contingency capacity without ongoing monitoring and maintenance until deployment. Alternatively, you can choose to use FEB-I for other tasks such as collecting seaweed / eelgrass or plastic and other surface waste during periods without oil pollution.
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FEB-I is constructed symmetrically, which enables a flexible and easy configuration and rigging of the barge with different functional equipment.
FLEX-FEB has developed a unique multi functional belt skimmer for collection of oil and other types of waste from the water surface. The belt skimmer, which is mounted in one of the bows of the barge, is electrically powered by powerful lithium batteries located in the pontoons of the barge.
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FEB-I is also able to operate with other available oil collection equipment, such as conventional brush/disc skimmers, weir skimmers, pumps and excavating equipment.
Due to the low draft, low weight and modest dimensions, FEB-I can be used in both shallow waters, close to the shoreline, in lakes and in rivers. During operation, FEB-I can be towed by one or two small vessel(s), towed in conjunction with oil booms, mounted with outboard engines and sailing autonomously, or anchored, depending on what is most suitable in the given scenario.
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Alternative uses of the FEB-I
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The main purpose of FEB-I is to provide a simple, efficient and flexible contingency capacity for emergency response in case of pollution at sea. However, FLEX-FEB is of the opinion that, in addition to the emergency response and on-site filtering capacity capacity at sea, the alternative applications of the barge are attractive to municipalities, local communities and private enterprises.
This may for instance be:
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Collection of seaweed / eelgrass.
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Collection of greasy/fermented seaweed
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Collection of plastic waste.
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Collection of surface waste in general.
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Work platform, for example for painting and diving operations.
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Filter for pumping fresh water (the FEB filters contaminated water from outside the barge and clean water can be pumped up from the inside of the barge).
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The first FEB-I is built at Søby Shipyard
The first FEB-I was built at Søby Shipyard in NOV 2021, and after a few minor outfitting tasks FEB-I was ready for handover from the yard in FEB 2022, and actual sea trials could take place during the spring and early summer of 2022.
This is a fully functional test platform, which will be used to test the seaworthiness and functionality of the filtering environmental protection barge in various scenarios, as well as installation and functionality of the additional functional equipment such as oil booms, skimmers, electrical systems, controls etc.
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First Launch of the FEB-I
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FEB-I was launched for the first time in a dry dock at Søby Shipyard on 28 FEB 2022. The barge proved to be very stable, and largely unaffected by people and equipment being moved around onto the barge.
Installation of oil booms and various adjustment options for the belt skimmer etc. was tested and everything worked fine. Subsequently, the electrically powered skimmer was tested - first with the collection of popcorn, and subsequently with the collection of corn oil from the water in the dry dock.
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First Launch of the FEB-I
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FEB-I was launched for the first time in a dry dock at Søby Shipyard on 28 FEB 2022. The barge proved to be very stable, and largely unaffected by people and equipment being moved around onto the barge.
Installation of oil booms and various adjustment options for the belt skimmer etc. was tested and everything worked fine. Subsequently, the electrically powered skimmer was tested - first with the collection of popcorn, and subsequently with the collection of corn oil from the water in the dry dock.
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Sea trials with the FEB-I
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In mid-April 2022, FLEX-FEB performed the first part of the comprehensive sea trials program for the FEB-I, and in early/mid-June 2022 the last part of the sea trials was carried out, which, like the first part, took place in the shallow waters off Marstal in Southern Denmark with collaboration and professional assistance from “Ærø Søredningsforening” (Ærø Sea Rescue Association).
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The sea trials demonstrated that both FEB-I and the functional equipment performed well, which confirms that the concept of one or more flexible filtering environmental protection barges operated together with already available vessels works just fine. It was also demonstrated that flexible environmental barges can be deployed quickly, easily and efficiently to counter oil pollution at sea, especially in shallow waters, and that flexible environmental barges provide a cost-effective supplement and or alternative to conventional maritime pollution control equipment.
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At the same time, some opportunities for improvements were also identified, which was precisely the purpose of FEB-I as a test platform and the tests at sea.
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Monitoring and Control Systems for the FEB-I
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The development of the Flexible Filtering Environmental Protection Barge continues.
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One of the many advantages of the FEB-I is the ability to operate the barge autonomously, which dramatically reduces the wear and tear of personnel involved in maritime environmental protection operations and increases the overall efficiency of the operation.
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FLEX-FEB has increased the possibilities for autonomous operation of the barge(s) by developing a system based on capacitive sensors for detecting the oil content in the barge, which, in combination with a GPS/AIS system, navigation lights, CCTV camera and remote control of the skimmer, makes it possible to remotely monitor and control a multi-barge operation.
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Monitoring of the barge's position and the oil content in the barge, as well as remote control of the oil skimmer and navigation lights, can be done via a dashboard that can be installed on a PC. A demo version of the dashboard can be seen on FLEX-FEB's website.
Trailer for the FEB-I
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One of the many advantages of the FEB-I is the 20' container footprint and light weight of only 1,000 kg, including batteries and control systems (but excluding skimmer and external power pack, etc.).
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The light weight allows storage and transport of the FEB-I on a trailer. FLEX-FEB has designed and built a trailer for FEB-I in collaboration with Harbeck in Germany. The trailer has a total weight of 1,800 kg, which makes it possible to tow the trailer loaded with the FEB-I with an ordinary family car.
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The trailer enables easy storage as well as fast mobilization and deployment at very short notice. With the trailer the FEB-I can be easily launched by a crane, via a ramp, or directly from the beach.
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