The oil spill at a Shell's Gannet Alpha platform in the U.K. North Sea is the biggest in the area for the last ten years.

Oil began to escape from Shell's drilling rig located east of Aberdeen last Wednesday,

The leak has been contained but not entirely stopped, with the equivalent of around fovr barrels a day continuing to escape.

Shell has said that it cannot say when the problem will be finally resolved.

A total of 216 tons of crude oil have already entered the water, turning the disaster into one of the gravest in the North Sea since 2000, when close to 350 tons of oil were released into the Hutton field.

Environmentalists have expressed concerns for the safety of young seabirds in the affected area.

Shell, however, has argued that it is unlikely that any oil will reach the shore.

Environmentalists Greenpeace and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) have complained about a lack of information as the company reported the oil spill with a 2-day delay.

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