Deepwater Horizon subsea efforts continue

Control efforts are still being made to limit the damage caused by an oil spill from a Gulf of Mexico platform.

Deepwater Horizon, a Transocean drilling rig, caught fire last month and subsequently sank - endangering the personal safety of a number of employees and contractors.

However, BP has revealed it is carrying out a "top kill" method to prevent the slick from spreading, with a containment dome being parked on the sea bed.

"A second, smaller containment dome is being readied to lower over the main leak point," the company stated. "It is designed to mitigate the formation of large hydrate volumes."

According to the organisation, this is the first time such techniques have been used on an area of water 5,000ft in depth.

Group chief executive Tony Hayward recently offered condolences to the nine Transocean employees and two contractors who lost their lives during the first few days of the accident.