Trial run of “superskimmer” A Whale Not Conclusive.

New Orleans – The trial runs of the retrofitted oil tanker, dubbed A Whale, which was developed to aid in the clean up of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico are not conclusive. This is due to the high seas which were present during the tests, TMT Shipping Offshore stated on Monday.

The trials of A Whale, which were held just to the north of the BP Plc, were supposed to have been wrapped up by Monday, however they have now been extended due to the adverse weather.

Bob Grantham, spokesman for TMT, explained “After an initial 48-hour testing period results remain inconclusive in light of the rough sea state we are encountering. Therefore, working in close coordination with the U.S. Coast Guard, we will be undertaking an additional testing period to make operational and technological adjustments aimed at improving skimming effectiveness given the actual conditions we are encountering in the Gulf.”

A Whale wasn’t the only vessel having difficulties. According to Mr. Grantham, a lot of the smaller skimmers were also having difficulty carrying out there task in the adverse conditions caused by Hurricane Alex, which passed through the Gulf of Mexico last week.

A Whale is seen as the potential “Hail Mary” for the efforts in trying to clean up the Gulf of Mexico as it can collect up to 500,000 barrels of oil per day of oily water, which is why the outcome of this trial is so disappointing.

There will be another trial run, and TMT is hoping that this one will go as planned, so that they may secure a contract with BP to skim oil from the gulf. They are prepping to more “super skimmers” so there may just be hope for the Gulf of Mexico yet.