The Swedish city of Malmo has installed the world’s first fully automated oil spill response system, Reuters reported.This is the first automated surface vehicle, or ASV, deployed in a commercial port.
An electrically powered robotic vehicle, called a torpedo, isolates the spill by towing a floating boom around the harbor. The new device is able to contain oil slick in the harbor in several minutes, whereas it would take hours or even days before an oil spill response team could arrive at the site and deploy containment booms manually. A more powerful version of the torpedo could be installed and operated on the high seas and become a standard equipment for any drilling rig.