Maritime chief comments on Shell oil spill

The chances of a recent oil leak in the North Sea causing further damage to water quality have been "considerably reduced".

This is according to the secretary of state's representative for maritime salvage and intervention Hugh Shaw, who believes Shell has successfully managed to secure a faulty pipeline and case it in concrete, following a spill at the Gannet Field.

However, he added that a few sheens of oil have been seen in the past few days and that this was "inevitable".

The representative also said that work will commence to discover the exact cause of the leak and this could take three to four days to complete depending on the weather.

Shell first broke the news of the incident earlier this month, but it has always maintained that the situation was under control.

The Gannet Field is situated in the Central North Sea and lies around 112 miles off the coast of Aberdeen.

Posted by Claire Manning