Shell exploration vessel retreats from South Africa after court order
Fri, 7th Jan 2022 15:26
(Alliance News) – Energy giant Royal Dutch Shell PLC has retrieved a vessel deployed to explore for oil and gas off South Africa’s pristine Indian Ocean waters following a court interdict, the company said Friday.
A High Court in the southern town of Makhanda last month ordered Shell to halt its seismic survey operations following a petition brought by environmentalists worried about the impact on whales and other species.
A Shell spokesman told AFP that “as legal hearings about the survey are not yet completed and the weather window for conducting the work is limited, Shell has decided to terminate the current contract for the survey vessel early, in agreement with the contractor”.
The Anglo-Dutch giant ran into fierce opposition, as campaigners warned of potential harm to whales, dolphins and seals, which rely on hearing to survive, as well as to birds, fish stocks and microscopic plankton.