ABSTRACT
To be effective, an oil pollution control barrier must fulfill a number of requirements. It must have adequate strength to withstand wave and current forces in the sea. In addition to this, it must be adequately strong to withstand nonoperating loads such as those encountered in construction, packaging, launching, recovery and refurbishment for further use. The barrier must have seakeeping responses which are correct for the purpose of containing oil. Sway response of a barrier is needed to avoid large relative flow velocities in waves. Heavy response is needed so that the relative height of the oil on the barrier will not become too large allowing oil to pass over the barrier or become too low and allow oil to pass beneath the barrier. The roll angle of the barrier must be relatively small to prevent leakage as well. The above factors are considered in this paper. This consideration is based on full scale trials of barriers, theoretical studies and model tests.