An oil company exploration crew’s chance discovery of a 200-year-old shipwreck in a little-charted stretch of the Gulf of Mexico is yielding a trove of new information to scientists, who say it is one of the most well-preserved wrecks ever found in the Gulf.

Contractor Halliburton admitted today that it skipped a crucial test on the final formulation of cement used to seal the BP oil well that blew out in the Gulf of Mexico.

BP's investigation into the Gulf of Mexico spill sparked a backlash from its contractors and US politicians who accused the oil giant of attempting to shift some of the blame.