Poor maintenance likely reason for Norwegian oil spill

Poor maintenance may well be the reason for the ruptured pipe which led to 4,000 cubic metres (24,100 barrels) of crude oil escaping during offshore loaning from the Statfjord A platform creating a 25 square kilometres oil slick. The oil is drifting towards the northeast at about one knot, but is unlikely to hit the coastline. There were indications that oil was still leaking from the ruptured pipe, which takes oil from the platform to the single point mooring buoy where the 124,200 DWT Teekay tanker Navion Britannia was loaning. It was the vessel which discovered the leak and raised the alarm. According the Norwegian Coastal Administration (Kystverket) they will deploy a mini sub to inspect the ruptured pipe. The weather is likely to ease later today and tomorrow, but the light crude is widely dispersed and will be difficult to collect.