As soon as oil spills on the sea surface, it undergoes various
processes simultaneously, such as spreading, evaporation, emulsification, photo-oxidation, dispersion, sinking, resurfacing, tar ball
formation, and biodegradation (Fig. 2) e all of which make clean up
much difficult. Hence, the extent of the damage caused by the spill
and the ease of cleanup depend on how quickly the cleanup
response takes effect. The kinetics of these processes depends
largely on sea conditions and the meteorological environment
(Kapoor and Rawat, 1994).