SA activists halt Shell offshore seismic survey

Protest.

A protest against the plan by Dutch oil company Shell to conduct underwater seismic surveys along South Africa’s East coast. PHOTO | AFP

South African civil society has halted a planned intensive offshore seismic survey of the country’s south-eastern coastline by oil giant Shell.

Activists had claimed unsuccessfully in a separate court action that the process of firing sonic waves into the ocean floor to map it for potential oil and gas reserves would cause "irreparable harm".