3 floating fingerprint labs to net oil spillers

Each vessel would have an advanced oil fingerprinting laboratory to test samples from an oil spill and track the erring tanker. ‘‘Earlier an oil spill meant starting a search for a laboratory that could trace the oil sample. Now we will have a lab of our own,’’ a Coast Guard official said. He said oil spillers often go scot-free due to lack of evidence.

‘‘The court asks us to prove whether the oil really belongs to a certain company or not. That will change when we have the oil fingerprinting laboratories,’’ the official said.

Crude oil’s characteristics depend on the region it comes from. The properties of the spilled oil would be matched with the oil data of each tanker that crosses by. That would help provide proof for prosecuting the company or the oil tanker.

Nearly 10 to 15 east-bound tankers from the Gulf cross the economic zone every day and the daily crude oil volume translates into a whopping two to three million tonnes.

Sources said the details of a memorandum of understanding with the Scandinavian partner is being worked out and the trial run of the first pollution-control vessel has been targeted before 2006.

Each vessel will have skimmers to gather large oil spills, before doping them with dispersants to break the crude molecules.

‘‘We are incorporating a landing rig so that Advanced Light Helicopters (ALH) can operate from the vessels,’’ a senior Coast Guard officer said. The ALHs can be used for patrolling and rescue operations by using its advanced maneouverability.