[Trending News] North Sea tanker: Ship carrying sodium cyanide hit tanker transporting jet fuel for US military

Jocelyn Timperley
BBC Future Planet

When oil hits the water, it’s important to act quickly.

The
sheer quantity of oil released can make them especially damaging. In 2024,
around 10,000 tonnes of oil was released from tankers into the ocean, according
to the International Tanker Owners Pollution Federation, external.

Doug Helton, regional supervisor of the emergency response
division at the Office of
Response and Restoration, external at the US’s National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration, recently
spoke to the BBC for a long-read article on the limited
progress we’ve made in cleaning up major oil spills.

The first step was to
control the source, he said – “whether that be a ship, pipeline, or
leaking well”. Once the flow of oil is stopped, “the second priority
is recovering oil at sea”.

Oil spills spread rapidly, becoming a thin film a millimetre
thick or less and covering a very wide area.

“Floating oil spreads very
quickly and there is a limited window of time – days – when at-sea tools are
effective,” said Helton.

So what are the best ways to stop an oil spill from
spreading, and can the oil ever be effectively cleaned up? Read on.