Salvage operation launched after Norwegian oil spill

Dec 12, 2007, 14:06 GMT

Oslo - Norwegian authorities and petroleum company Statoil Hydro on Wednesday launched a salvage operation over an oil spill in the North Sea, officials said.

Some 4,000 cubic metres of oil leaked into the sea in connection with the loading of a vessel at the Statfjord A platform, some 200 kilometres west of the city of Bergen, Statoil Hydro said in a statement.

A second loading bay was in operation and production was continuing, a Statoil spokesman said.

The operation was hampered by 'strong winds and high waves,' Vegar Stokset of the Norwegian Clean Seas Association for Operating Companies told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.

Stokset said the spill covered an estimated area of 8 kilometres squared.

Several vessels including a vessel equipped with chemicals to disperse the oil were dispatched.

Containment booms were likely to be of little use due to the high waves, according to Stokset and the Statoil spokesman.

The Petroleum Safety Authority was monitoring events and said its role was 'to supervise the operator's handling.'

Public broadcaster NRK reported that the largest Norwegian oil spill to date occurred 1977 when 12,000 cubic metres - or some 75,000 barrels of oil leaked.

Both Stokset and the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre in Stavanger said there were no reports of any injuries and there was no plans to evacuate staff.