Airship, Key Vessels Ready to Work on Clean-up

By Eileen Fleming

New Orleans, La. – The Coast Guard says a floating platform designed to collect oil from BP's leaking well should be on line this week. Once that vessel connects to the blowout preventer a mile under the surface, three ships at the site could collect 53,000 barrels of oil every day. Government experts say as much as 60,000 barrels a day could be gushing into the Gulf. The Navy's airship should also arrive this week. It will fly slowly over the oil spill to direct the surface cleanup and alert rescue crews to any wildlife stuck in the oil. And a private Taiwanese converted cargo ship called the A-Whale has been working on skimming oil at the well site. Rough weather has slowed testing of claims that it can skim nearly 550,000 barrels a day.
For NPR News, I'm Eileen Fleming in New Orleans.