Oil Recovery Vessel: From Concept to Commission

Background

An international customer identified the need from one of their clients in Africa to supply an oil spill response vessel that has pollution prevention and clean up equipment on board.

Darcy was aware of a concept oil recovery vessel that had not yet been brought to market. We used our extensive experience in the sector and worked closely with our customer, suppliers and fabricators to develop and sell the final product which was delivered to Africa in 2024 with a further vessel delivered in 2025, and another on order.

What Did Darcy Do?

Darcy worked to fine-tune the concept alongside the vessel fabricator and pollution pod manufacturer to develop a final specification that was delivered to the customer. Once the quote was agreed, the vessel and pollution pod were built and subjected to sea trials at Liverpool Docks. The trials highlighted some minor changes required, which were completed before the OSV was carefully packed up and shipped to the customer in Africa.

The customer was present at the sea trials and was able to commission the vessel for their client in country with remote support from Darcy. Everything they needed to get the vessel onto the water was supplied by Darcy with some assembly required.

Marine Oil Recovery Vessel

The Darcy Marine Oil Recovery Vessel (ORV) is a lightweight, highly manoeuvrable, aluminium catamaran with a removable pollution pod comprising of an oil mop skimmer system. It’s ideally suited for the recovery of oil in inland waterways, including estuaries, harbours and the nearshore. 

The marine ORV can be operated by a minimal crew and is very capable – it can recover a large amount of spilled oil floating on the surface of a water course. It can respond a lot quicker and access areas larger vessels cannot.

Read more about the Darcy Marine Oil Recovery Vessel

What Was the Outcome?

The end-user is so pleased with the ORV they’ve been using for the last year that they’ve ordered another two vessels. The second vessel is slightly different as the customer found some changes they would like to make, including lengthening the vessel by 1m so it can take an IBC on the deck for the temporary storage of recovered oils. Water trials of the second vessel were conducted in June 2025 in Liverpool. The images and video featured in this case study are of the second vessel.

Darcy enabled the customer to achieve its goals by producing an oil recovery vessel in good time, using high quality materials and incorporating state-of-the-art oil recovery equipment, for a competitive price. The vessel can be added to and updated as the customer requires.

Without the Darcy Group, it may have taken longer for the customer to get the right solution. With our experience and contacts, we were able to bring this project to fruition successfully and efficiently.

Flexible Solutions Tailored to Your Requirements

Tell us what you need, and we’ll tell you what we can do. Our products are designed around our customers’ needs. If you can’t see what you’re looking for on our website, get in touch and let us find the solution.

Our sales team has over 170 years of collective experience in the industry! We use our experience to deliver practical and cost-effective solutions to our customers all over the world.

Whether you’re interested in a similar oil recovery vessel or something else entirely, get in touch!