As more oil from the leak in the Gulf of Mexico spreads into the Mississippi Sound, the American government has taken action and ordered a fleet of new super skimmers to help in the clean-up efforts.

Eight vessels have arrived from France after the French foreign minister volunteered the oil skimming boats from a French company, Ecoceane.

The company builds the vessels in its shipyard in France and develops a range of oil spill and solid waste clean up vessels, which are highly specialised and adapted to keeping the marine environment clean.

The vessels have sweeping arms and pumps connected to skimmers. A turbine pulls a stream of water through a tank equipped with a mesh to filter out solid waste.

The state also ordered 23 new skimming vessels from local yacht builder, Trinity Yachts, that will be paid for by BP. The design of the new skimming boats will allow them to be used in deeper waters south of the Barrier Islands and closer to shores and bay areas. Trinity's skimmers will be able to scoop up between 5000 and 8000 gallons per day.

Federal response officials have been pressured by local and state officials to streamline US maritime restrictions that would allow more foreign skimming vessels to be put to work on the spill.