Hurricane hampers efforts to deal with oil leak

BP and the US Coast Guard sent oil-skimming ships in the Gulf of Mexico back to shore because nasty weather from Hurricane Alex churned up rough seas and powerful winds.

The vessels steamed to safe refuge because of rough seas, which likely will last for days.

Officials scrambled to reposition boom to protect the coast, and had to remove barges that had been blocking oil from reaching sensitive wetlands.

Those operations could soon get a boost, as the US accepted offers of help from 12 countries and international organisations. Japan, for instance, was sending two skimmers and boom.

Alex is projected to stay far from the spill zone and is not expected to affect recovery efforts at the site of the blown-out well 50 miles off the Louisiana coast.

Vessels being used to capture or burn oil and gas leaking from it and those drilling relief wells that officials say are the best hope for stopping the leak for good are still working in the Gulf.

But the storm's outer edges complicated the cleanup as the oil turned whitecaps red. Waves were as high as 12 feet in parts of the Gulf, according to the National Weather Service.

US Coast Guard Lieutenant Dave French said all skimming efforts were halted for now off the Louisiana coast. Wayne Hebert, who helps manage skimming operations for BP PLC, said all nearshore skimmers were idled off the coasts of Florida, Alabama and Mississippi.

"Everyone is in because of weather, whether it's thunderstorms or (high) seas," Mr Hebert said.

Mr French said workers were using the time off the water to replenish supplies and perform maintenance work.

Alex late yesterday had maximum sustained winds at 75 mph. The National Hurricane Centre said the Category 1 storm is the first June Atlantic hurricane since 1995. It is on track for the Texas-Mexico border region and expected to make landfall tonight.

In Grand Isle, dozens of boats, from skiffs up to huge shrimp boats, were tied up at the docks, rocked by waves even in the sheltered marina.

"It's really rough out there," said Coast Guardsman Zac Crawford. "We want the oil cleaned up, but we want people to be safe. We don't want to lose anyone working on the spill."

On the beach, cleanup workers struggled with wind that blew sand into their eyes and mouths and humidity that let the sand stick to their skin.