Copenhagen Malmo Port has announced that it will be the first port in the world to use a new and unique technology to limit oil spills – an automatic boom that shuts off the area and protects the water and surrounding shoreline.

The technology is called Autonomous Surface Vessel (ASV) and is an electrically powered “torpedo” that is fired out into the water, pulling a boom with it, and locks into one of the docking stations in the port.

Time is always of essence when an oil spill occurs, the port said, and the so-called ecotorpedo can seal off the oil port in Malmo in just five to six minutes. The torpedo can be programmed via GPS and follow a fixed course or be steered via wireless transmitter. Malmo plans to test-fire its ecotorpedo on Oct. 13.