Australia mobilised aircraft yesterday to try to break up an oil slick off its northwestern coast as it struggled to stop a well gushing oil into the sea.
The source of the spill is an offshore rig in the Timor Sea operated by PTTEP Australasia, a unit of Thailand's PTT Exploration and Production.
The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (Amsa) said 50 tonnes of dispersant were being prepared to try and contain the spill. A C-130 Hercules aircraft was flown in from Singapore, and two back-up aircraft readied.
"This leak has occurred in one of the remotest locations possible, making any operation difficult," Amsa, the agency coordinating the clean-up operation,said. It was too early to determine the full impact of the spill, the agency added.
Rig operator PTTEP Australasia has said 40 barrels of oil leaked in the initial incident on Friday.
However, the well was still gushing oil yesterday and emergency services said stopping it was a priority.
"Amsa is working with the company and has stressed the urgency to repair the well head and stop the oil flow and PTTEP has initiated actions to achieve this," the agency said.
Amsa spokeswoman Tracey Jiggins said the slick was about eight nautical miles in length and about 30m wide,and appeared to have stabilised in size,suggesting the oil was evaporating at about the same rate it was leaking.
Aerial surveys had been made to prepare for spraying the dispersant.
A senior PTTEP Australasia company official said a team of experts had been engaged to figure out how to stop the flow of oil, but at present it was too dangerous to send people back on the rig. The company offered to pay all the clean-up costs and promised to minimise the environmental impact.
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