Since the environmental pollution by microplastics is a relatively new area of research, the main problem is the lack of appropriate rules, regulations and parameters globally. Therefore, the sources of primary and secondary microplastics particles vary from source to source, and due to this the difference in the division of microplastic particles by size arises too. Moreover, various techniques and technologies are used when testing seawater and sediment as well. Ultimately, with different qualities of the obtained results, it leads to difficult and/or inadequate comparison. Furthermore, the research has been mainly conducted on smaller marine organisms, which needs to be extended to other larger organisms as well as to the human population to create a complete image of the negative effects of contamination of the marine food chain and the marine environment with microplastic particles in general.

This paper emphasised the importance of proper handling and selection of specialised skimmer equipment for accidental pollution with oils. The research was motivated by the lack of similar papers that offer an extensive and recent literature analysis related to the use of skimmers, with the ultimate aim to present the methodology for proper selection of appropriate pollution equipment. Knowledge on the equipment characteristics such as capacity, selectivity, speed, and pump power of the skimmer is essential for efficient and fast collection of spills. The study aimed to calculate the oil collection rate of an individual skimmer device with different pumps. The classification of skimmers, pumps, and collecting tanks was made according to their main features. The results showed the correlation between pump capacity and the skimmers. Due to the complexity of mechanical equipment and various devices, it was crucial to identify and connect the skimmer with the proper pump. For these reasons, the authors proposed a model which determines the optimal combination for thirteen skimmers and eleven pumps. The model can help shorten the time of collecting oil from the sea surface and provide a more efficient and smoother response in the events of accidental marine pollution.

Ships pollute bays and coves with oils daily. Although the number of major pollution events is decreasing, accidents still occur and are likely to occur in the future. Most often, pollution arises from spills of non-persistent oil in bays, mainly during the summer season. A prompt response is key to oil collection success in semi-enclosed waters. In order to ensure that oil does not reach the mainland and endanger a potentially crucial economic resource of a country, it is vital to collect it in minimal time. Furthermore, it is also essential to send response ships that minimize the cost. In practice, there may be several optimal combinations of response ships to be sent. When the response cost is considered, obtaining all possible optimal solutions (a complete Pareto front) is vital because the shortest collection time does not necessarily mean the lowest costs. For these reasons, two general optimization models are considered. The first model gives the minimum response time to collect oil from the sea’s surface, while the second model gives the minimum response cost of ships participating in the clean-up operation. The supplied pseudo-codes allow for all optimal solutions to be found.