Design and Implementation of an Unmanned Surface Vehicle for Oil Spill Handling

Oil spills could lead to catastrophes to the marine environment, which in turn affect living creatures including humans. The Ministry of Environment and Climate Affairs, Sultanate of Oman, constantly monitors the Omani shores for any contaminations. In addition, the Ministry collects samples from the affected areas and follows a specific procedure for containing the oil spill. However, the current process requires coordination between multiple independent parties, which introduces time delay and reduces efficiency of the process. This paper proposes a solution, where an unmanned surface vessel could help in the process of detecting the oil spill and collecting samples from the polluted area. Experiments with a fabricated vessel showed excellent maneuverability, reliable sample collection mechanism, and reasonable accuracy of oil contamination detection.