Inclement weather hinders cleanup efforts, test run of ‘super skimmer’

Unrelenting weather prevented skimming operations for the eighth day on the trot off the coasts of Mississippi, Alabama and Florida.

Oil slick makes way to Texas
Meanwhile the oil has hitched a ride on these high tides. Tar balls from the Gulf oil spill have made way to a Texas beach providing evidence that the oil, spewing from a ruptured well in the Deepwater Horizon, has not spared any Gulf state.

The quantum of oil that has made a landfall in Texas is miniscule vis-à-vis the amount of oil that has inundated the hardest-hit parts of the Gulf Coast in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and the Florida Panhandle.

"I think altogether they filled up a couple of buckets full of them; it was not a huge impact. We think we'll be able to contain any impact from Deepwater to tar ball pickup on the beach," said Jim Suydam, a spokesman for the Texas General Land Office.

Called A Whale, this super skimmer has the capability to suck up a mammoth 300,000 barrels of oil every 10 hours.

However, according to predictions, the later part of this week will witness more rough seas. The bad weather conditions are likely to move towards east of the Yucatan Peninsula and later head north and strike eastern Texas and western Louisiana.

According to AccuWeather.com meteorologist Alex Sosnowski, "This region is an open highway for the system to ride more to the north, rather than to the west, like Alex did recently."

"Any Texas shores impacted by the Deepwater spill will be cleaned up quickly and BP will be picking up the tab," said Texas Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson.

Test run of super skimmer delayed
Meanwhile, the 48-hour test run of the super skimmer, a retrofitted 1,100-foot tanker, has been delayed due to the high seas.

Called A Whale, this super skimmer has the capability to suck up a mammoth 300,000 barrels of oil every 10 hours.

TMT Shipping Offshore, owner of the super skimmer, averred that the weekend tests were "inconclusive in the light of the rough sea state we are encountering."

The deployment of A Whale is the latest in a series of efforts undertaken by BP Plc to stem the oil from spreading further.

According to estimates, the company has put 44,500 workers on the oil spill response and till date it has spent close to $3.12 billion on the entire exercise.