SHELL POSTPONES BRENT SPAR DUMP DUE TO BAD WEATHER, TANGLED WIRE

BRENT OIL FIELD, NORTH SEA, Sunday June 11, 1995--Shell have suspended Brent Spar dumping operations this afternoon.

The Brent Spar is now hanging by only one of six anchor chains in Wind Force 5 conditions with more than two-metre-high swells. Two tugs are attached to the toxic-laden platform but it seems the operation is not going according to plan.

A wire hanging from the Brent Spar is tangled with towing gear. An attempt by Shell vessel Brenda Viking to disentangle it was futile. The Brenda Viking is believed to be carrying the explosives for the final sinking of the Brent Spar about 140 nautical miles NW of the Isle of Lewis in the Hebrides.

reenpeace activists aboard the MV Moby Dick close to the Brent Spar heard the Shell tugs postpone the dumping preparations over VHF radio.

"Every step of the towing and dumping operation is dangerous but the worst is still yet to come," said Chris Rose of Greenpeace. "It's the final step that will pose even more danger to the marine environment -- when the floatation tanks of the 14,500 tonne Brent Spar are blown and over 130 tonnes of dangerous toxic waste are sunk with it."

Yesterday, a Shell chartered vessel rammed a Greenpeace lifeboat attached to one of the Brent Spar anchor chains, tipped an inflatable boat under the Brenda Viking's stern and blasted activists with a high pressure fire fighting cannon. The confrontation continued into the afternoon when two activists jumped into the water in front of the Shell chartered tug Smit Singapore as it tried to approach the platform again.

68KB GIF or 28KB JPG.Greenpeace activists tie their craft to hauling line. ©Greenpeace/Steve Cox.

"Greenpeace will stay with the Brent Spar to monitor, expose and, wherever possible, take non-violent action to stop this nightmare dump," Rose said.

For more information, contact Chris Rose on 0374 931 234, Desley Mather on 0385 258 446, or Greenpeace Brent Spar campaign office (Shetlands) on 01595 694099