Harbo Technologies Ltd. launched its boom at Interspill 2018 London with deployments on the Thames from HEBO Maritiem's Tideman boat. Tel Aviv, Israel-based Harbo is a portfolio company of Evok Innovations, a partnership between the BC Cleantech CEO Alliance, Cenovus Energy and Suncor Energy that invests in cleantech. According to the company, T-Fence blocks spills before they spread since it is the only system in the world that is small and light enough to be installed at every potential spill site. Compared to traditional booms, Harbo’s system is 1/15th of the weight, and deployable in a fraction of the time. The compact and lightweight system can be stored near high-risk waterways to enable immediate spill response and containment. Within minutes of spill detection, two operators on a vessel the size of a lifeboat will deploy up to one kilometre of T-Fence around the spill, preventing it from spreading and splitting. The disposable solution will enhance oil spill responders' operations, the company said. T-Fence has a 4.5-inch freeboard and an eight-inch draft. While its properties enable it to ride the waves efficiently, it weighs only 6.5 oz. per foot. Harbo has been tested at the Ohmsett oil spill response research facility and is being piloted at the largest ports in Europe and Canada. "We believe that this system is a game changer, finally adding a long-anticipated layer of protection to oil spill response – the ability to block spills right when they start, wherever they occur and with local operators," Boaz Ur, co-founder and CEO of HARBO, said in a statement. "In oil spill response, it's all about time. By keeping a spill from spreading in the first 10-30 minutes after it happens, we will multiply the recovery rates seen today and prevent disastrous consequences."
Israel - based Harbo technologies has developed an oil - spill detection system that is compact and light enough to be installed at any site . The T - Fence boom is independent of the weight of a traditional boom , and can be deployed within minutes of spill detection . As a result , it can be deployed near high - risk areas to detect spills quickly before they occur , potentially preventing a major incident .