This paper examines the behaviour of a distributed system/robotic swarm concept for the effective confrontation of oil spills. The system described consists of a number of identical robotic units of high-power autonomy that recover oil mechanically and are able to communicate with each other. A mathematical model that accounts for a multitude of oil weathering processes and for the concerted action of the autonomous units is implemented for this investigation. Computational assessment of the robotic swarm in weathering oil spills indicates the potential effectiveness of the method. (C) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.