Tests on “A Whale”, a supertanker adapted to skim oily water from the surface of the Gulf of Mexico, are inconclusive because of high seas, ship owner TMT Shipping Offshore reported in a Reuters report. The 1,100-ft. (335 m)-long ore and oil carrier named "A Whale" is being positioned as a potential savior of efforts to clean the oil pollution because it is designed to collect 500,000 barrels (21 million gallons) per day of contaminated water.
It operates by allowing oily surface water into the ship through a series of a dozen slits on the port and starboard sides of the ship near the bow. The liquid is then decanted through a series of tanks to separate oil and water.
(Source: Reuters)