A leaking loading hose has caused an oil spill near the OLS B loading buoy at the Statfjord field, which is operated by Statoil in the North Sea, between Norway’s west coast and the Shetland Islands.
The spill (pictured) was reported at 08:30hrs (local time) while the tanker Hilda Knutsen was being loaded from the Statfjord A platform via the OLS B loading buoy, which is located between Statfjord A and Statfjord B.
“The leak is located in a flange in the loading hose. It is also too early to say how much oil has leaked,” Statoil said in a statement today.
After the spill was spotted, the tanker loading operation was stopped and the pipeline and loading system from Statfjord A was closed, Statoil said. Production at the platform has been unaffected.
A stand-by vessel with oil spill response equipment is on the scene, along with an anchor handling vessel, equipped with a ROV. An SAR helicopter is monitoring the spill, Statoil said.
