Shell to recover oil trapped at Gannet Alpha

Oil trapped in a North Sea pipeline after a major spill last year is to be recovered by Shell.

A leak in a flowline to the Gannet Alpha platform, 113 miles off Aberdeen, resulted in 218 tonnes of oil escaping into the sea.

It was eventually plugged, but the pipeline, 300ft below the surface, contains hundreds of tonnes of oil. Shell is now preparing to pump it into a tanker.

The project, given the go-ahead by maritime slavage officials, will involve placing taps into the pipe and pumping the oil through them on to the vessel.