A Taiwanese businessman says he has a 1,115-foot-long weapon for BP and the federal government to deploy in the Gulf spill. But some maritime analysts are skeptical of Nobu Su's conversion of a huge oil/bulk ore ship to duty as a skimmer worthy of Monstro:

“I don’t think the concept is that bad, but I don’t see how in this situation it’s going to be a significant player,” said Dennis Bryant, a former Coast Guard officer who worked on implementing regulations required by the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 before retiring and starting a maritime consulting business in Gainesville, Fla.

“In a case like the Exxon Valdez spill, where you had a lot of oil on the surface in a confined area, a vessel like this could have gone in and sucked up a whole lot,” he said. “But in the Gulf, where the oil is pretty well dispersed over a vast area, I don’t see how it’s going to make a large dent.”

Read the msnbc.com report by Projects Team Editor Mike Brunker on the ship's conversion and experts' reaction.

And for a video view of the ship, check out this report from NBC News' Anne Thompson.

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