Flotel, a portmanteau of the terms floating hotel, is the installation of living quarters on top of rafts or semi-submersible platforms. Flotels are used as hotels on rivers or in harbour areas, or as dwelling for working people, especially in the offshore oil industry.[1]

Deepwater Horizon oil spill

Main article: Deepwater Horizon oil spill

Flotels were extensively used to house cleanup workers for the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.[1] Cities along the shore in some cases were unable to accommodate the large number of workers needed for the cleanup, so BP used flotels to house some of the workers.[1] BP told the media that flotels were convenient because they allowed workers to be close to cleanup sites, lessening travel time.[1]

Coronavirus pandemic

In Singapore, two floating hotels, the Bibby Renaissance and Bibby Progress were served as quarantine ships before March 2021 during the Coronavirus pandemic.[2]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Dykes, Brett Michael. "Oil cleanup workers protest 'flotel' housing". Yahoo!. Retrieved 12 April 2013.
  2. ^ "Covid-19: Floating hotel to house 500 foreign workers in S'pore has very nice bedrooms & toilets". mothership.sg. Retrieved 2021-03-11.


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