HOUSTON, (Reuters) – A Taiwanese-owned “super skimmer” ship sent to help clean up the Gulf of Mexico oil spill has collected virtually no oil in two weeks of tests, a U.S. Coast Guard official said yesterday.
“All we found in the tanks was water, so it was very ineffective,” Coast Guard Rear Admiral Paul Zunkunft, federal on-scene coordinator, told a news briefing.
The 1,100-foot (335-metre) “A Whale,” an ore and oil carrier refitted for skimming, was sent by TMT Shipping Offshore to help clean up oil spewing since April 20 from BP Plc’s blown-out Macondo well.
The vessel arrived the first week of July in search of a contract with BP and began undergoing tests, which were hampered at first by bad weather. Conditions have since improved, and the tests have continued.
“The results are the amount of oil recovered by the A Whale is nil,” Zunkunft said.
