Building on Oil Spill Clean-up Success

Chelsea Technologies (UK) has become a worldwide phenomenon thanks to its work helping to clear up the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. Chelsea shot to prominence when BP asked it to provide sensors to monitor the amount of oil in the water following the accident in April.

Since then, the Chelsea Technologies has developed an international reputation and received interest from across the globe. Brian Phillips, managing director, said: “Our involvement out there has expanded amazingly.”We started working with BP but over the last few weeks it’s spun off into working with universities and research institutions and we have had some input from local government in the Gulf. “The United States is calling in help from all around the world and we have had orders from research institutes in Norway and Australia. “We have sold the technology across the world and in the last two days alone we’ve received orders for the hire of five off sensors from America.”

This week the United States declared that the majority of the oil had been cleaned up or broken down. Chelsea’s work however is set to continue for some time to come. “The emphasis has now gone on to detecting the residual oil,” Dr Phillips said. “That’s what they are particularly interested in now; the effect it is having on the marine environment.”

There are also several other projects that the firm is working on, including an “undulating tow vehicle”, which is pulled along by a boat and measures various parameters of the water. “We have sold about 120 to research institutes and we are talking with Florida State University about supplying them," he said. "We are also supplying equipment that’s not just looking at the oil in the water.”It looks at the marine life and algae and the effects on the seabed.”

Chelsea is also involved in other high-tech projects including the production of anti-warfare technology for submarines and a project that aims to keep water safe from foreign agents.