The use of booms to contain and concentrate floating oil prior to its recovery by specialized skimmers is often seen a the ideal solution since, if effective, it would remove the oil from the marine environments.

Unfortunately, this approach suffers from a number of fundamental problems, not least of which is the fact that it in direct apposition the natural tendency of the oil to spread, fragment and disperse under the fragment and disperse under the influence of wind, waves and current, thus even if containment and collections system are operating within a few hours, of an initial release they will tend to encounter floating oil at an extremely low rate . because of this it is of this it is rare, even in ideal conditions, for more than a relatively small proportion(10-15%) of the spilled oil be recovered.

When containment and recovery is attempted it is important to select equipment that is suitable for the type of oil and the weather/sea conditions, efforts should target the heaviest oil concentrations and area where collection will reduce the like hood of oil impacting sensitive resources and shorelines