Oil spill skimmer speeds recovery.

Abstract

The article describes a new type of oil spill skimmer, the Class XI Skimmer, which successfully completed an oil recovery assignment recently when the Liberian tanker Burmah Agate started burning and spilling oil in November 1979 following a collision at sea near Galveston Bay, Texas. While previous open- water skimming equipment revolved around a costly single-purpose recovery vessel, the new system readily converts any available vessel with adequate tank capacity into an oil spill recovery vessel.