Associated Press is reporting that the Giant Vessel nicknamed “The Whale” is being tested in the Gulf this weekend as the Largest Oil Skimmer in the World.

The Taiwanese vessel will cruise and skim a 25-square-mile test area through Sunday. The company TMT Shipping created this huge oil skimmer by retrofitting an oil tanker. The created it right after the explosion happened which is spilling millions of gallons of crude oil into the Gulf.

It has been very frustrating for the company as well as those who wish every resource available be used to cleanup this mess. Initially, the company was not allowed to help with the cleanup. Finally, they are being allowed to “test” the Whale.

One of the problems it has is its size. The area around the explosion site is very conjested and manuevering the Whale around so many vessels may be difficult.

Another problem is although the huge oil skimmer gets a large portion of the oil out of the water, some oil still is found in the water that will be put back into the gulf. They will have to have a special sign-off since oil skimmers are supposed to clean ALL oil from the water before putting it back into the gulf.

However, the literal amount of oil it CAN remove (or hopes to remove) will put a HUGE dent in the nasty mess.

We send a huge amount BEST wishes and luck to the Whale and home they pass all tests this weekend!