Giant Dome Arrives At Site Of U.S. Oil Spill

A turtle swims through a massive oil slick about 25 kilometers south of the Louisiana coast.

A giant structure built to contain the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico has arrived at the site of the ruptured well spewing crude into the sea 80 kilometers from the Louisiana coast.

The structure consists of a white silo with a dome-shaped top that stands four stories high.

The device will be lowered down to the seabed some 1,500 meters below the surface to allow the crude spilling from the well to be pumped into a nearby tanker ship.

The oil slick streaming from the well since a rig leased by the BP energy company exploded and sank last month is threatening to swamp Louisiana's wetland nature reserves and vital fishing grounds.

compiled from agency reports