We model the drift velocity near the ocean surface separating the motion induced by the local current, itself influenced by winds and waves, and the motion induced by the waves, which are generated by local and remote winds. Application to the drift of ‘tar balls', following the sinking of the oil tanker Prestige-Nassau in November 2002, shows that waves contribute at least one third of the drift for pollutants floating 1 m below the surface, with a mean direction about 30° to the right of the wind-sea direction. Although not new, this result was previously obtained with specific models, whereas the formalism used here combines classical wave and circulation forecasting models.