Looks converting supertankers into giant skimmers that can slurp up oil from BP's leaking well isn't a magic wand after all: CNN reports that in initial testing, the supertanker-turned-skimmer known as "A Whale" collected just 1,100 barrels of oil in a 24-hour period. That's a piddling amount compared to the sixty thousand barrels leaking from the well each day, nearly half of which is being siphoned off through the containment cap.
Here's CNN's report (key portion of the transcript below):
ALAN CHERNOFF (CNN): So far, has it delivered?
BRIAN KELLEY (Coast Guard Chief of Staff): Right now, they're under a testing evaluation. And we haven't completed that yet. As a matter of fact, the ship just asked for an extension to their testing evaluation period, which we accepted and approved. So they're going to be able to continue that test until Thursday morning.
MARK WILCOX (Coast Guard Commander): We haven't seen a very large amount of product. Early indications indicate not a lot was collected.
CHERNOFF (voice-over): That so-called product, crude oil floating in the sea, hasn't been concentrated enough according to BP for "A Whale" to skim effectively, even though it appears the ship has been surrounded by pools of oil just a few miles from the gusher.
WILCOX: We've got oil coming up from over a mile below the surface. And it doesn't always come up in one spot.
CHERNOFF: "A Whale" may still prove itself, but the vessel will have to do so before BP officially hires it to join the cleanup fleet. And if that's to happen, the sea will need to cooperate.
HANK GARCIA (BP): When you've got seas, six foot, eight-foot seas, it's not going to lend itself to a good capture of the oil.
CHERNOFF: As crude continues gushing into the gulf, skimming has been scant. Only 1,100 barrels of oil were skimmed in a 24-hour period, from Sunday to Monday, less than the amount pouring out of the blown-out well in an hour using the most conservative estimate.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We see two barges inside that.
CHERNOFF: The Coast Guard has been able to pinpoint traveling pools of oil from the sky.
KELLEY: The aircraft get on top of the oil. They can identify what type of oil it is. And then they can vector in the skimmer vessels right to the spot.
CHERNOFF: The Unified Command anticipates seas will soon calm, which should give skimmers, including "A Whale" an opportunity to more effectively do their jobs.
For weeks now, pro-oil activists like former Shell CEO John Hofmeister have sold converted supertankers as a silver bullet for containing BP's spill, but unless test results improve dramatically, it appears that they are nearly useless. Moreover, even if results improve once waters calm down, the giant skimmer seems to be inherently inadequate -- any solution that depends on calm seas for a spill in the middle of hurricane season is at best incomplete.