Mechanical Recovery

Fact Sheet Read time:
Mechanical Recovery

Mechanical recovery, the industry’s primary response system, employs skimmers, booms, boats and personnel to collect and remove oil from the surface.

The equipment is most effective in open water; in broken ice conditions, with ice concentration as low as 10 percent, the efficiency of mechanical recovery falls significantly. This method depends heavily on the ability of personnel to position boats, booms and skimmers and is susceptible to shutdown if any of these factors is affected by poor visibility, dense fog, high sea states and/or freezing temperatures.

Sea Ice Can Affect Mechanical Recovery

The presence of sea ice interferes with containment of oil in sufficient thickness to recover it. Oil tends to disperse and mix into the ice, creating an additional step for responders trying to separate the oil from the ice. Sea ice may reduce the effectiveness of containment booms by interfering with the boom position, allowing oil to entrain or travel under the boom or causing the boom to tear or separate (see video link below). Sea ice may also reduce a skimmer’s efficiency in recovering oil by lowering the rate the skimmer encounters oil and increasing the time needed to position the skimmer for optimum recovery among ice floes. Once oil is trapped under pack ice, the on-water mechanical recovery methods discussed here are no longer a viable option until the ice breaks up.

Skimmer deployed in icy water

© BOEMRE

This video shows some of the challenges that were encountered during a field exercise in the Beaufort Sea during 2000 when mechanical recovery systems failed in the presence of sea ice, even in very low concentrations.


ENDNOTES:

Abdelnour, R. and G. Comfort. (2001). Application of ice booms for oil-spill cleanup in ice infested waters. Fleet Technology Ltd. Kanata, Ontario.

Fingas, M. (2004). Weather windows for oil spill countermeasures. Prepared for Prince William Sound Regional Citizens’ Advisory Council.

Downloads Arctic Standards: Recommendations on Oil Spill Prevention, Response, and Safety in the U.S. Arctic Ocean
Downloads Arctic Standards: Recommendations on Oil Spill Prevention, Response, and Safety in the U.S. Arctic Ocean
America’s Overdose Crisis
America’s Overdose Crisis

America’s Overdose Crisis

Sign up for our five-email course explaining the overdose crisis in America, the state of treatment access, and ways to improve care

Sign up
Quick View
America’s Overdose Crisis

America’s Overdose Crisis

Sign up for our five-email course explaining the overdose crisis in America, the state of treatment access, and ways to improve care

Sign up
Arctic Oil Spill Report

Oil Spill Prevention and Response in the U.S. Arctic Ocean: Unexamined Risks, Unacceptable Consequences

Oil Spill Prevention and Response in the U.S. Arctic Ocean: Unexamined Risks, Unacceptable Consequences is the most comprehensive analysis yet on challenges to preventing and containing spills along the nation’s northernmost coast.
Quick View

Oil Spill Prevention and Response in the U.S. Arctic Ocean: Unexamined Risks, Unacceptable Consequences

Oil Spill Prevention and Response in the U.S. Arctic Ocean: Unexamined Risks, Unacceptable Consequences is the most comprehensive analysis yet on challenges to preventing and containing spills along the nation’s northernmost coast.

MORE FROM PEW

About a dozen people stand examining large blue bins full of whole fish in a warehouse. Some people are in green clothes, others in blue, and all wear ballcaps. A few hold clipboards. Reducing Risk Strengthens the Seafood Supply Chain
A worker in a seafood market dumps bright orange shrimp from a blue bin onto a bed of ice between a lot of other seafood laid out for sale. Other workers are visible in the background, as are the arms of shoppers placing orders from the other side of the ice bed. Seafood Industry Benefits From Greater Vessel Transparency
An aerial view of a vast wetland, with scattered vegetation visible on sandy islands. In Western Australia, a Conservation Model for the World
A presentation being given by a businesswoman to a group of participants at a business conference. Four Plan Features Can Boost 'Retirement Readiness'
Composite image of modern city network communication concept

Learn the Basics of Broadband from Our Limited Series

Sign up for our four-week email course on Broadband Basics
Quick View

How does broadband internet reach our homes, phones, and tablets? What kind of infrastructure connects us all together? What are the major barriers to broadband access for American communities?

Pills illustration
Pills illustration

What Is Antibiotic Resistance—and How Can We Fight It?

Sign up for our four-week email series The Race Against Resistance.
Quick View
Pills illustration

Antibiotic-resistant bacteria, also known as “superbugs,” are a major threat to modern medicine. But how does resistance work, and what can we do to slow the spread? Read personal stories, expert accounts, and more for the answers to those questions in our four-week email series: Slowing Superbugs.